


The Broken and the Bruised (but everything is fine now)

by transitioning_laufeyson



Series: If You Love Me Let Me Go [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Elementary School, Female Loki (Marvel), Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Multi, Oh I cant save Justin Hammer?, Past Rape/Non-con, Pets, Tags May Change, Tony Stark Has A Heart, WATCH ME HAHAHAHA
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-04-05 05:05:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 18
Words: 26,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14036787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transitioning_laufeyson/pseuds/transitioning_laufeyson
Summary: Loki and her children are now safe from captivity and free to live their lives. This is a series of shorter stories about their lives.





	1. Information and Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Most of these chapters won't be related but some will be, so check to see if the titles are the same.

4th September

Loki put the last piece of bacon on a plate and placed it on the table.

"Breakfast, everybody!" She cried. The twins quickly came downstairs, talking to each other. They took seats next to each other at the dining table, and began to eat. Theo walked down much more quietly, already dressed in jeans, a fuzzy grey jumper and a white blouse. She had her head buried in a book already, surprise surprise.

"Good morning, everybody," she said, taking her seat.

Theo nodded, and continued to eat and read her book. The twins turned their attention their mother for Lon enough to say good morning and then turn back to their conversation. Loki read the news on her tablet and ate her bacon and eggs in contentment. Her family of four had spent the last few weeks of the summer with the Bartons.

Steven, or as he was now known, Ste, quickly became friends with Cooper, Clint's son, who was the same age as the twins. Laura had shown Loki how to plant vegetables and flowers, and the vegetable patches in their back garden were coming along nicely. The twins and Theo were going to go to the same school as the Barton children. They had joined the family on a 'back to school' shopping trip to buy bags and stationery.

The twins quickly finished their food and headed back upstairs to get changed. Theo closed her book and put it in her bag. Theo had shown lots of interest in going to school, but less so when she was told that she was going to be in the same class as other four year olds. She was not looking forward to it. She was, however, glad to be told that she was going to be in the same class as Lila, Cooper's little sister.

Once the twins were dressed, the children picked up their bags and the family made their way to the driveway, where Laura Barton, Clint's wife, was waiting in her car. She was giving them a lift, seeing as her own two children attended the same school as the others were starting at. They were quickly on their way to the school.

“So, are you guys looking forward to starting school?” Laura asked the twins.

Sophie nodded. “Yeah! I really want to make some new friends.” Ste nodded in agreement. Theo, however, shook her head.

“No, I want to stay at home and read books. I think it’s just going to be a waste of time,” she said. Laura nodded.

“Fair enough,” she said.

~~~~~~~~~~

When they got to the school, Theo’s first thought was that there was a lot of people. It was the first day of the school year, and parents and students were milling around and talking to each other. Everybody got out of the car and Cooper and Lila went to talk to their old friends.

Loki made her way with Theo to her classroom. The twins had already gone off with Cooper to their room. She opened the door and led Theo in, who suddenly became shy when being faced with all the children. The teacher saw them and walked over.

"Hi! You're new, aren't you?" She asked. Loki nodded.

"Yes, we just moved to town. This is Theo," Loki said, gesturing to the small girl now hiding behind her legs.

"Cool! She'll be fine here. We have some other shy kids here too. She can always come and find me if she has any problems," the teacher said. Theo emerged from behind Loki.

"Are you good?" Loki asked her.

"I think I'll be alright, mum," she said. Loki took that as her cue to leave and said bye. She went back to the parking lot to join Laura, who had already sent off her own children. They drove home, occasionally talking about different things. Loki was glad to have a day to herself, something that had become quite rare for her. She was looking forward to having a nice calm day.

~~~~~~~~~~

Theo was bored. She had brought a few books, but she had to put them away and pay attention, sadly. She found the things they were doing incredibly mundane. She left what she was doing, colouring in a picture, and walked over to the teacher, Miss Wynne.

"Yes, Theo?" She said, kneeling to be closer to her level.

"I'm bored. Why can't I just read my book?" She asked her.

"What book are you reading? Come and show it to me," Miss Wynne said. Theo got her book out of her bag and brought it over. The book was one Bruce had given her as an introduction to Earth science. She was still trying to grasp some of the concepts, and she was writing things she found interesting in a notebook she had bought.

"Wow, this stuff is really advanced. How old are you again?" She asked.

"Four and a half," Theo responded.

"You really don't belong in this class," Miss Wynne commented. "You can keep doing this. It seems like a waste of time to be making you do colouring when you can do stuff like that. I can talk to the principal, see if you can skip a few years," she said. Theo sat at one of the tables on her own and continued with her science.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sophie sat on her own and looked at her work. It was a bit confusing, but she was glad that her mum went through it with her before the term started. The class was learning maths, though it wasn't very complicated. She finished the problems and looked over at her brother, who was laughing with Cooper at a different table.

Sophie decided not to dwell on it. She finished the sums and put her hand up. She could always make more friends. When she was given more work, she continued with that, so that she could avoid thinking about them.

~~~~~~~~~~

At lunch, Theo noticed Sophie sitting on her own at a table, her face hidden by her hair. Theo sat beside her.

"Hey," Theo said, putting her lunch on the table. Sophie let out a quiet sob.

"Soph? Are you okay?" She asked.

"Ste said that I can't sit with him any more, because he's friends with Cooper," Sophie said, crying. Theo was not impressed. She walked over to where Ste was sitting with Cooper and a few other boys.

"Steven Peterson, come over and sit with me and Sophie right now!" She yelled at him. The other boys looked surprised at being yelled at by a tiny girl.

"Why? Cooper's my friend now. She won't fit in," Ste said.

"And why is that?" Theo asked, getting rather annoyed now.

"Because she's a girl," Ste replied. "This is boys only."

"That's stupid, and now she's crying. Go and apologise," Theo said.

"No," Ste said.

"I'll tell Mum. And Uncle Tony. And they won't like it," Theo said. Ste shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure. Whatever," Ste said, turning back to his new friends.

"Ugh! I give up!" Theo yelled, going back to her table, where Lila had joined Sophie and was comforting her. Another girl was also there, with her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was talking to Sophie and smiling a little.

"Hi," the other girl said, holding her hand out. " Persephone Hammer. My friends call me Seph."

"Nice to meet you," Theo said, shaking her hand. "Are you new here too?"

"Yeah. Just moved here last week," she said.

"Cool. How old are you?"

"Just turned six. You?"

"Five. Six in a few months."

"Really? You don't talk like a five year old."

"But you do," she said, smirking.

"And you don't have the sass of one, either," Seph joked good-naturedly.

"Very funny."

~~~~~~~~~~

Loki arrived at the school with Laura to pick up the children. Sophie, Ste and Cooper came out first, Sophie not walking with them, per se. Theo and Lila arrived a few minutes later, along with another girl, with blonde hair.

"Mum, this is my new friend, Seph," Theo said. "Seph, this is my mum."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Peterson."

"Call me Lola," Loki said.

A blond man came walking over. "Sephy, we need to leave soon."

"Dad, this is my new friend Theo and her mum Lola," Seph said. The blond man smiled and held his hand out.

"Justin Hammer. Nice to meet you, Lola," he said.

"Likewise," she said, shaking his hand.

~~~~~~~~~~

When they were in the car, Loki noticed that Sophie had chosen to sit in the back instead of with Ste. She made a mental note to ask about that later. When they arrived back, it seemed like Tony was waiting for them. Loki gave him a lingering hug and headed inside.

"They have returned! How was your first day at school, you guys?" He asked brightly.

"Fine," Sophie said, walking straight inside. Tony was surprised at that response. He watched her walk inside and turned back.

"How about you guys?"

"It was fun! I made some new friends!" Ste said.

"Good for you, champ!" Ste walked inside as well. Tony picked up Theo.

"How's my favourite science girl doing?"

"I did more of my science. The teacher said I could. And I made a friend called Seph."

"Cool! What's her full name, so I can stalk her and her parents." Theo snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Her name is Persephone Hammer. And she only has one parent. His name is Justin Hammer. He's nice." Tony's face clouded over and he put Theo down.

"Go inside, kid," he said, managing to stay calm until she was inside.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey JARVIS, when did Justin Hammer get out of prison?" He asked, walking into his penthouse.

"On the 6th of June, sir," JARVIS replied.

"Great. Anything about him having a kid?"

"Yes. One daughter. His ex-wife had custody of her, but she died in a car crash on the 15th of August. Custody of the daughter went to him. They recently moved into an apartment in New York."

"Can you find his address and phone number please?"

"Yes sir."

"Great. Can you keep him on surveillance please? Let me know in the future if he does anything weird. Oh yeah, get my suit out, please."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, kid." Tony said, landing next to Sophie in the back garden. He flipped his helmet up. "What's bothering you?"

"Ste said that we can't be friends at school because his friends will think he's a girl. He said that we can be friends outside of school, but why can't we just be friends everywhere? I don't get why it matters so much." She said sadly.

"Damn. I'm sorry kiddo. Life is complicated and boys are stupid."

"But you're a boy."

"Yeah, and ask your mum, I've done some stupid stuff in the past, believe me." Sophie giggled. "There, see! Smiles! Life isn't all bad. You've still got your mum and Theo to talk to. He'll come around eventually. Feel free to give me a ring if you ever need someone to talk to. I'll always be there for you."

Sophie nodded. "Thanks, Tony."

"Not a problem, Soph." He blasted off, leaving Sophie to watch him go. He was right, she thought. It wasn't all bad.


	2. Parent-Teacher Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? You can have some vague faith in me to update. I’ve had a weird week.
> 
> Quick request. I don’t mean to be rude, but if you have the time, please leave a comment. Getting verbal compliments really does boost people more than kudos, but they’re great too!
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

October 12th

Thalia knocked on the door and waited for an answer. Sophie opened the door for her and she stepped into the hallway.

“Thalia! Thanks for agreeing to babysit tonight!” Loki called from the kitchen. She had agreed to babysit while Loki went to parents evening at school. She had a few hours free; and she would do anything to get out of a family dinner. Her dad wasn’t very impressed, but her grandparents were some of the most annoying people on the planet.

“Anything to get out of the house tonight,” she replied, walking into the kitchen.

“Really? Why?” Loki asked.

“My grandparents are coming over and by doing this I can get out of it,” she said.

Loki laughed. “Bet Nick and Phil weren’t very impressed.”

“No, but whatever. Besides, I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to spend some time with these little people.”

“Fair enough. I just finished making dinner. There’s enough for everybody, plus one of their friends that’s coming over as well. Her dad is going to parents evening as well.” Loki put the food on the table just as the doorbell rang.

“That’ll be them,” Loki said, going to the hallway. Thalia heard the door open and voices.

“Justin! Looking forward to parents evening?” Loki asked.

“God no,” was the response Thalia heard. “Didn’t you know? Sephy’s a little demon,” he joked.

“I made dinner, so we can eat before we need to go,” Loki said, walking back into the kitchen. “Justin, this is Thalia. She’s babysitting the kids tonight.”

“Cool,” Justin said. “Nice to meet you, Thalia.” There was a thundering noise, and they turned around. A small girl ran up the stairs loudly.

"And that would be Sephy. My daughter," he sighed. "Kinda crazy."

Thalia smiled. "Am I gonna have my hands full with them then?"

Justin smirked. "Absolutely."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, Loki!"

"Shit."

Tony waved to Loki from the sidewalk. Justin clearly didn't appreciate his presence, judging by the colourful language.

"Good evening, Tony. Did you decide to join me?" Loki said, getting out of the car.

"Yep! I can threaten all of the kids' teachers," Tony said. He smiled at Loki, then stopped to glare at Justin, who was getting out of the car. "And what are you doing here, Justin?"

"He's here for Parents evening, just like me and you, Tony, so leave him alone. I know you two didn't get on in the past, but please, put that behind you," Loki said. Justin smiled weakly.

"I'm going to go inside." Tony and Loki watched him go.

"Asshole."

"Tony, seriously! He's done nothing wrong."

"I just don't feel comfortable around him."

"Not an excuse to make his life a living hell. He's a nice guy," Loki says, exasperated. "Let's just go inside."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Now, I appreciate that Theo is a very smart kid. I don't even know if she should be in this school. She is, quite frankly, a genius. She might as well go straight to high school," Miss Wynne said. "No idea if that can be arranged, though."

Miss Wynne had been a bit scared once she saw Tony, but she quickly shrugged it off and continued. Loki respected her for not being alarmed at his presence. 

"I can probably do something about that," Tony said. "Pull a few strings. Shouldn't be hard."

"Perfect. I have no complaints. Miss Peterson, it is an honour to... not really teach, but supervise your daughter," Miss Wynne said, shaking Loki's hand.

"Thank you, Miss Wynne," Loki replied.

"Great," Tony said as they left the classroom. "Anybody else we have left to see?"

"Yes, just the twins' maths teacher. Then we're done," Loki said.

~~~~~~~~~~

Thalia had an easy night babysitting, considering that there was four kids in the house. Theo was reading a book in the lounge, and the twins, along with Seph, were watching a movie.

"Seph, do you live with your mum and your dad? 'Cos I've only seen your dad," Sophie asked her.

"Um... no, my mum...," Seph tried to speak, but her voice quivered and she stood up suddenly. "I'm going to get a drink." She walked off quickly, not looking back.

"Good job guys," Theo said from one of the armchairs. "If she hadn't mentioned her mum, then do you think she wants to talk about it?"

"Oh," Sophie said.

 

Thalia was sitting in the kitchen playing on her phone when Seph came into the kitchen.

"Seph? You okay?" Thalia asked carefully. Seph started sobbing quietly. "Seph, what's wrong?"

"She's gone. She's not coming back," Seph whispered between sobs.

"Awww, Seph," Thalia said, pulling the little girl into a hug. Thalia rubbed her back. "What happened?" 

"My mum. She... there was a car crash," she couldn't say it out loud. Whenever she tried to, the words got stuck in her throat.

"Aw jeez, Seph. It sucks, huh," Thalia said. "You know, my dad nearly died once. He was in surgery for a long time. I wasn't allowed to see him for a long time. I sat at home and cried. I didn't go into school or anything. My other dad stayed at home with me. We got takeout every day. He never expected anything of me until he got out of hospital. Nobody should expect anything out of you when you're upset. Have you talked to your dad about it?"

Seph shook her head. "No. My dad and my mum divorced when I was younger. I didn't see him very much until now. He seems a lot different now that I've moved in with him."

Thalia nodded. "Talk to him. It might not seem like he cares, but he probably misses her too. Do you want to sit with me? I can teach you the game I'm playing."

Seph shook her head and smiled. "I'm gonna go back to watching the movie. I'll be fine."

Thalia nodded. "Okay."

~~~~~~~~~~

"So, there are no problems in the teaching department, but there is one thing I am concerned about," the maths teacher said.

"And what would that be?" Loki said carefully. Tony's eyes widened slightly, but he didn't say anything.

"I've noticed that Sophie looks a bit lonely in lessons. It doesn't seem like she has many friends apart from Persephone Hammer. Were you aware of that?" Loki shook her head.

"No, I wasn't. I'll talk to her about it when I get back."

"I knew," Tony said. "She told me about it a few weeks ago." 

"Okay, this is something we need to discuss in private," Loki said. They left the classroom and started walking towards the car park.

“So, you knew what Sophie was upset about and you didn’t tell me?” Loki said carefully.

“I didn’t want to make you more stressed. You have enough on your mind.”

“She’s my child, not yours!” Tony shrugged.

“Maybe she could be,” Tony said, looking at her.

“What?”

“Bad timing, probably. I’ll give you some time to think about it,” Tony said.

Loki stopped in the parking lot and turned to Tony. “Are you joking? Are you actually proposing to me?”

“Maaaaybe?” Tony said. “But if you don’t want t-“

Loki pulled Tony into a kiss. “Of course.” Then she shoved him back and walked towards her car, where Justin was waiting, looking very confused.

“I’m still mad at you though.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Comments and kudos would be appreciated. Have a great week everybody!


	3. The Prison (also known as How Justin Hammer Broke)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick look at Justin’s time in Seagate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This doesn’t quite fit with Hail the King. Justin had a harder time of it because fuck canon.

6 years previously

Justin sat at one of the tables in the prison ‘cafeteria’. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but there were worse places to end up. A large, muscular man sat down opposite him.

Hey, blondie.” Justin ignored the man and kept eating. The man grabbed his wrist.

“Hey, I’m talking to you.”

“And I’m not.” Justin replied, not thinking before he spoke. The man stood up, jerking Justin upright. The man was drastically taller than him, pulling at his arm uncomfortably. People gathered around them.

“You really want to make an enemy of me, blondie? I don’t think you do,” the man threatened.

“Yo, John, leave him alone. He’s not anything special,” another man yelled from the crowd. The man, John, threw him on the floor and walked off. Justin gasped for breath, and the crowd dispersed. Everybody left him well alone until he got ambushed in one of the corridors.

John had, despite his size, crept up on him, and grabbed his wrist again. He pulled him into an empty room. Justin was thrown on the ground. He heard John yell to two of his pals.

“Keep watch outside. Yell if any guards are coming,” he said. Then he shut the door and locked it, giving Justin an ominous feeling.

“Afternoon, blondie. Thought I might teach you a little lesson after what happened earlier.” Justin tried to get up, but John was pinning him down.

“Where you going, blondie?” Justin tried to struggle, but John grabbed his wrists and held them above his head.

“Thought you could get the better of me, huh blondie!” John asked menacingly. Justin tried to struggle again, cry out help, but John covered his mouth.

“Think I’ll teach you a lesson, blondie. Usually I’d beat people up, but” John glanced down his body and smirked. “Why let this body of yours go to waste?” Justin figured out what he meant and his eyes widened.

“Please, don’t!” Justin pleaded. John smirked again.

“You think I care about what you want?” John forced Justin to his knees, then stood. Justin got the gist very quickly.

“If you think I’m going to do anything like what you want me to, then you’re going to regret it.”

“You want to take it somewhere else, blondie?” Justin thought for a second. Where else... nope. Justin opened his mouth. John smirked.

“Now, was that so hard, blondie?”

~~~~~~~~~~

If anybody had ever noticed that Justin brushed his teeth until they bled, nobody commented on it. Bleeding gums quickly turned to bleeding skin, as John changed his desires. Justin had spent five years in Seagate.

After John’s latest assault, Justin sat on the floor leaning against the walls, gasping and sobbing. He heard the door open.

“Bloody hell, what happened to you?” Justin looked up. A man with a scraggly beard and hair was standing in the doorway.

“It’s a long story,” Justin said. He recognised this man. This was Trevor Slattery. He was the Mandarin, or rather he played the Mandarin.

“Well, hi. Want some help? I’m Trevor,” He said, holding out his hand. Justin hesitated, then took it.

“Thanks. Justin. Nice to meet you,” Justin smiled. He basically had no friends. Most people were scared of John, so they left him alone, and nobody ever tried to talk to Justin, because they were afraid of John. Ever since their... thing started, Justin had sat at the same table as John, as far away from him as possible. He ate on his own, ignoring the men at the other end of the table. It was a lonely existence. Until now.

Trevor pulled him up. Justin stumbled a bit but Trevor caught his shoulder and held him steady.

“You alright?” Justin nodded.

“Fine.” Trevor held the door open for him. A tall, muscular man stood outside the door.

“Hey, Herman. I made a friend. This is Justin. Keep him safe for me.” Herman nodded. Justin held his hand out to Herman.

“Hi.” Herman shook it, unsmiling.

The next meal, John waved him over, but a sudden hand on his shoulder made him jump. Herman was there, steering him to where Trevor sat. John stepped in front of them and looked directly at Justin.

“Where are you going, Jus?” He stepped closer. Herman’s hand on his shoulder tightened.

“He’s coming with me,” Herman said. “Got a problem with that?” John stepped forward.

“Yes, I have.” Herman shoved Justin out of the way. He punched John in the face. Justin shuffled around the fight and sat next to Trevor. They both turned around and watched Herman and John fight. Eventually, Herman was triumphant, and he sat down heavily next to Trevor.

“How do you know him?” Herman asked.

“Oh, John? He’s the man that’s been making my life a living hell for the last five years. I really don’t want to talk about it,” Justin said.

“But you just did,” Trevor said.

“Anymore.” Neither Trevor nor Herman pushed any further. They ate in relative silence and ignored the people questioning what the fuck just went down.

Trevor told Herman to take care of Justin rather than himself. They got the gist of what Justin was saying, and that didn’t sit well with either of them. They became Justin’s friends for his final year at Seagate.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Have a great week everybody!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the past two weeks have been fun. I relapsed in my self harm, and this is basically the only thing keeping me sane right now.
> 
> On a happier note, whoever guesses what the new characters are from gets a metaphorical cookie,

25th December

“Mmm, good morning, Reindeer Games,” Tony said, rolling over to drape an arm over Loki’s body. Loki hummed quietly and leaned into the touch.

“Good morning to you too, Tony,” Loki replied. She turned over and pressed a kiss to Tony’s mouth. The kiss deepened slightly, but before it could go anywhere, the door to the bedroom burst open and three children jumped on them.

“It’s Christmaaas!” The twins yelled in unison. Theo just groaned and burrowed under her parents’ duvet.

“They woke me up too,” she said, curling into Tony and pressing freezing cold feet to his legs.

Tony yelped loudly. “Theo, you’re too cold.” Loki chuckled and sat up.

“I’ll make breakfast. We can open presents after we’ve eaten and woken up a bit,” she said. The twins were satisfied with this response and got off the bed, much to Tony’s relief. They were sitting on his knees.

~~~~~~~~~~

Justin woke to a small body pressing into his chest. He chuckled quietly.

“Morning, Sephy. It’s pretty early, kid, you alright?” Seph just buried her face into his shoulder.

“I woke up really early and I couldn’t get back to sleep. I woke up at three,” She mumbled quietly. Justin checked his bedside clock. It was 7:37 at the moment. The poor kid had been up for four and a half hours.

“Well, it’s Christmas. We can have a lazy morning if we want to,” he whispered to his sleepy daughter. Both of them drifted back to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~

“Sir, Miss Peterson requested that I wake you. She said to mention that breakfast was ready,” JARVIS’s voice said. Tony groaned. Theo had fallen back asleep on him for another half hour and he wasn’t objecting.

“Come on, kid,” he said, shaking her gently. Theo didn’t respond, so Tony just picked her up and carried her to the kitchen.

“Good morning, everybody,” Tony said, entering the kitchen. Tony had managed to get hold of matching pyjamas for the entire family, since they were spending the Christmas holidays at Stark Tower.

Theo had woken up as he was walking to the kitchen. Tony put her down on the floor and she made her way to the table and slowly began to eat her pancakes.

“Good work on these pancakes, Lokes,” Tony said to her. Loki smiled.

“Thank you, Tony,” she said, placing a hand on Tony’s.

“Can we open presents now?” Sophie said, looking over at the massive pile of presents underneath the Christmas tree. Tony shrugged and looked at Loki. She nodded and smiled.

“Sure, kids, go for it,” Tony told them. They cheered and began to separate the presents into piles. After they had finished sorting, they began to open the presents labelled for them. Theo joined them after a few minutes, having woken up. Loki and Tony sat on the sofa with their presents in front of the, while the kids sat on the floor.

Sophie gasped. She held up a book of easy combat moves that said it was from Tony. “Thank you!” She said excitedly.

Tony smiled. “I managed to make an agreement with Nat. She said that she wouldn’t mind teaching you some things, if you want.” Sophie nodded vigorously. She smiled so brightly Tony thought it might blind him. He was glad to know she was happy.

~~~~~~~~~~

Justin poured the waffle batter into the waffle maker and took a sip from his mug of coffee. He and Seph had woken up again around ten.

There were a few presents, not anything majorly exciting, but stuff that she had asked for. Justin’s family from the south had sent up some gifts after he told them he wasn’t coming home for Christmas. Seph had never met them, he was pretty sure.

Justin’s brother Jason wasn’t impressed. They were twins, and they were very close. Jason was the only family member of Justin’s that she knew, because they called each other a lot. Speaking of Justin’s brother Jason, Justin’s phone buzzed. Jason’s number ID popped up. Justin sighed and answered.

“Merry Christmas little brother,” Jason said.

“We’re technically twins, you know,” Justin sighed.

“Yeah, I know. How’s life? How’s sprog?” Jason had decided that Seph’s nickname was sprog. Justin put the phone on speaker.

“She’s fine, Uncle Jason,” He yelled. Seph came rushing into the kitchen.

“Uncle Jason!” She said happily. “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, sprog,” Jason said.

Another voice emerged from the phone. “Hey guys,” the voice said. Justin smirked.

“Hey, Red. Keeping my stupid brother out of trouble?” He asked. Red was the nickname of Jason’s boyfriend, which was a thing he learned after Red crashed one of their Skype calls.

“Barely. It’s a painful existence,” he said. A splutter of indignation came from Jason and Seph giggled.

“Oh, Sephy! How’s my favourite girl?” Red asked her.

“I’m great, Red!” Apparently, Red didn’t get to be called Uncle until he married Jason, Seph had told them. That had had Jason laughing for three straight minutes.

“Oh Jesus, the waffles are burning,” Justin said. “Sephy, have the phone. Put it on visual if you want.” He put the *slightly* crispy waffles on a plate and gave them to Seph. She did put the call on visual, and Justin mentally laughed at what Jason and Red looked like. They both had messy hair that they hadn’t bothered brushing.

“Language, Justin!” Jason said. Justin snorted.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, like you haven’t sworn more than that,” Justin answered.

“He has,” Red said. “He also threw me out of a window.” Jason choked on the water he was drinking.

“A slight lapse in judgement, also karma,” Jason said.

“That is true, karma did get you back pretty hard,” Justin said. Jason worked in the police department and once he was working late and it got set on fire. He got out, barely. He still had burn scars on one side of his face.

“Eh, I’ve forgiven you, you idiot,” Red said, wrapping an arm around Jason’s shoulders. A sudden beeping came from Jason and Red’s side of the call. Red suddenly jumped up.

“Shit, Jace, the toast’s burning,” He said, running from sight.

“Language!” Justin yelled. “My kid’s still here, if you forgot.” Seph had brought her gifts to the table and started opening them.

“Sorry, Jus. Jace, should we eat this toast?” Jason looked over to where Justin presumed their kitchen was.

“Hell no! It’s black! Bin it, make some eggs, if you can not mess that up,” Jason said.

“Hammer family Christmas curse,” Justin said, laughing. “We are doomed to burn our breakfast every year.”

“Very funny,” Jason said, shaking his head.

~~~~~~~~~~

All of the presents had been opened. All, that is except one. Sophie noticed it and pointed right before Loki was about to dish up Christmas lunch.

“Wait, there’s one left!” She said. She was right, there was one, small black box hanging from the Christmas tree.

Tony walked over, smiling. “Well noticed, Sophie. Yes, there is one thing left to give.” He took it from the tree. “To Loki. Looks like it’s a gift for you,” he said, walking back over to her.

He opened the box. In it sat a ring. It was a simple ring, a thin silver band with two lines that intertwined. There was no gemstone. Tony knew that that was saved for the wedding ring.

Loki gasped. She clapped her hands over her mouth and her eyes filled with tears. She looked at Tony and nodded. The children ran over to look at what had caused that reaction. They gasped as well when they saw the ring. Tony smiled and pulled Loki into a tight hug. When they parted, Tony slid the ring onto her finger.

“So are you our dad now?” Ste asked. Theo snorted.

“He’s always been our dad, only we couldn’t call him that. Hi Dad,” she said, the last part directed at Tony.

“Smart kid,” he said to her.

“Where’s your ring, then?” Sophie said. Tony pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to Loki.

“Right here,” he said as Loki put the ring onto his ring finger. Loki pulled him into a deep kiss. The kids fake-retched in the background.

“This won’t be like your last marriage, I promise you,” He said. Loki laughed.

The Peterson-now-Stark family ate their lunch happily, laughing and reading bad jokes from their Christmas crackers. They watched Home Alone together, which was a very nice end to a very nice day.

~~~~~~~~~~

The end to the Hammer family Christmas came a bit later. Seph had long since gone to bed, sleeping with the stuffed cat toy that Red had sent her for Christmas. Justin was sitting on his large windowsill, with his knees drawn to his chest. He watched the city lights and saw snowflakes begin to fall. Suddenly Justin’s phone rang and he answered it.

“Hello?”

“Merry, Christmas Justin,” Loki said.

Justin smiled. “Merry Christmas Loki. You alright?”

“Are you?”

Justin laughed softly. “Are we ever okay, truly?” He had told Loki had had happened to him a few weeks ago. Loki understood what he was going through and was always willing to talk.

“No, I suppose not. It’s not so bad though. How was your day?”

“Not so bad. My brother called.”

“The one who lives in Missouri?”

“Yep. How about you, was your day good?”

“Yes. Do you remember what happened after Parents evening?”

“Yeah. You never really explained that.”

“Tony proposed today.”

“Really? I’m so happy for you!” Justin didn’t like Tony much, but Loki was his friend, and his daughter was friends with Loki’s.

“Yeah, and he proposed on Parents evening, but he didn’t do it properly, and he did today.”

“Well,” Justin said, stifling a yawn, “I wish you all the best in your marriage, future Mrs Stark.”

Loki laughed at that. “Goodnight, Justin.”

“Goodnight Loki.” He hung up and rested his head against the cold window. Watching the snowflakes fall outside, he felt better than he had in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! As always, please leave comments and kudos! Have a good week!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony is sweet and awful at the same time, Justin is not okay, and Rhodey is a sweetheart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it came so late! I’m getting slapped in the face by school right now, which is not fun. Enjoy!

6th Jan

The weekend after the children went back to school, Tony had an idea. He had thought of a way to cheer up Sophie.

“Hey, Reindeer Games, I have a late Christmas present for the kids,” he said, walking into the house. “Where are they?”

“Theo’s studying and the twins are watching a movie upstairs,” Loki said, looking at him. “Should I be concerned about this gift?”

Tony laughed nervously. “No, of course not.” He recruited the kids and brought them outside to the car.

“Dad, what’s going on?” Ste asked.

“Well, I wanted to get you guys another special gift each, so wait here. Close your eyes and hold out your hands. No peeking!” Tony opened the door to the car. He picked up a small Labrador and placed him in Sophie’s arms. She opened her eyes and squealed.

“Oh my gosh! A puppy!” She knelt down and hugged him.

“What’s his name, kid?”

“Fenrir,” Sophie said confidently.

“Great. Eyes shut you two,” Tony said to Ste and Theo. Next he picked up a black kitten and gave it to Theo.

“That’s a cat,” Theo said. “Her name is Hela.”

“And last but not least,” Tony said, walking back to the car, “is this guy!” He picked up a glass tank, inside of which was a gecko.

“Ooh. Is he for me?” Ste asked.

“Yep,” Tony said.

“His name is Jormie,” Ste said. Tony ignored the only slightly odd name choices to pick up his phone, which was ringing. Rhodey’s caller ID lit up the screen.

“Hey Rhodey,” He said, locking the car and ushering the kids back inside with their new pets. “What’s up man?”

“You know Justin Hammer?” Rhodey asked.

“Yeah. What about him,” he asked coldly.

“Jesus. I know you don’t like the guy, but hear me out. Justin used to actually be my friend. I haven’t heard from him in a while. Do you think he’s okay?” Rhodey asked. Good god, he actually sounded concerned.

“I don’t know. I have his address, if you want to go and visit him,” Tony said. “I’ll send it to you.”

“Thanks, Tony.” Rhodey hung up and Tony quickly hung up before heading inside to the impending conversation about pets. Read: yelling session.

~~~~~~~~

A knock on the door brought Justin out of his trance. Seph was on a play-date with a friend of hers. He had just sat on the windowsill.

He walked to the door and opened it. James Rhodes stood there awkwardly.

“Colonel Rhodes. Haven’t seen you in a while. Come in,” Justin opened the door and Rhodey stepped in.

“How are you, Justin?” Rhodey asked.

Justin shrugged. “I’m alright.” He walked over to the sofa and sat down. Rhodey sat down next to him.

“Um, I hadn’t heard from you in a while, so I was wondering if you were okay.”

“I’m not too bad,” Justin said, leaning over and wrapping his arms around himself over his stomach.

“Not too bad? You seem different. Did something happen?” Rhodey asked gently.

“Um, yeah. A few things. A few weeks after I got out of prison, my ex wife died in a car crash, and our daughter ended up living with me,” he said. Rhodey’s eyes widened slightly, but he said nothing. “There was something else, as well.”

Justin took a deep breath before continuing. “When I was in prison, there was this man. His name was John. He... uh, he...” Justin couldn’t actually get the word out. “Wait here for a sec.” Justin walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a piece of paper. On the paper, he wrote ‘he raped me’ and handed it to Rhodey.

Rhodey’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god, Justin. I’m so sorry.” He stood up. “Do you want a hug? You don’t have to if you don’t want to, though.” 

Justin nodded. He took off his glasses, tears falling down his face. Rhodey’s arms enveloped him in a tight hug. Justin rested his head on Rhodey’s shoulder and cried. Rhodey rubbed his back and didn’t say anything.

After a while, Justin pulled back. “Sorry,” He said, wiping his eyes. “You probably don’t care all that much, anyway.”

“Hey,” Rhodey said, placing a gentle hand on Justin’s shoulder. “Never apologise for feeling emotions. It’s not your fault.” Justin nodded and smiled.

“Thank you,” Justin said.

Rhodey smiled back. “It’s what friends do.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Rhodey knocked on the door of Loki’s house and Tony opened it.

“Hey Rhodey. What did you hear from Justin? You look like you’ve been crying. What did he do to you,” Tony asked.

“Why does your mind immediately jump to Justin did something?” Rhodey said, stepping into the house.

“You went to visit Justin?” Loki said, sticking her head in the doorway. “How is he?”

“Doing pretty well, considering the circumstances.” Rhodey said.

“So he told you,” Loki said, stepping closer.

“I won’t hurt him. Does Tony know?” Rhodey asked.

Loki shook her head. “No. Nobody but Justin gets to tell anybody what happened.”

“Sounds logical.” The twins and Theo stood at the doorway and Loki went to usher them back into the lounge. All three adults went to sit down at the table.

“Pardon me, but what are you guys talking about?” Tony said. “What happened to Justin?”

“We won’t tell you, but give Justin a break, Tony,” Rhodey replied.

“Maybe if he wants a break, he should tell me what’s going on!” Tony yelled.

“Maybe he can’t, Tony!” Rhodey yelled. “Would it kill you to just give him a break for once?”

“Tony. He’ll tell you when he’s ready, but keep going like you’re going, and he’ll never tell you.” Loki said calmly. “Next time we see him, apologise. Eventually he’ll tell you.”

“Fine. I’ll give him a chance.”

“Thank you.”

~~~~~~~~~~

John stepped into the sunlight. Ten years he’d spent in that prison. Now that he was out, he could have some fun. Blondie seemed like a good place to start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave comments and kudos if you want to. All comments, short or long, get lots of love.
> 
> Have a good week everybody!


	6. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s all fine, up to a point.

13th March

Tony was hosting a movie night at Stark tower on Saturday night. It wasn’t really night though. Since they were getting the kids involved, it needed to start earlier than normal.

Loki had made the guest list, so he had no idea who was actually going to be there. The group of people that came to these movie nights had grown exponentially in the past year.

Tony looked at the sheer amount of food on the table and sighed. Loki and her kids were already there, choosing a movie.

“Hey, Tony,” Steve said, walking into the penthouse. “What are we watching?”

“Who knows?” Tony said shrugging. “Wait, Loki, who did you invite again?”

“Well, I invited Agent Barton, but he can’t come. Natasha is nearly here, and Rhodey said that him and Justin and Seph are going to arrive soon. I would have invited Thalia, but some family drama is happening apparently,” Loki said from where she was looking at the selection of movies. “And Sam Wilson as well, but I don’t know if he can make it.”

“Since when did you know Sam Wilson?” Steve asked.

“And why in the hell did you invite Justin Hammer?” Tony asked.

Loki stood up from the floor where the children were chatting.”Well, you introduced me to Sam yourself, Steve, and I invited Justin because he’s my friend.” She said, with a look at Tony. “Also, I thought Steve might feel more comfortable with a friend here.”

“Thanks, Loki. Much appreciated.” Steve and Loki had actually grown quite close. Then the door opened, and Rhodey, Justin and Seph came in.

“Evening, people,” Rhodey said. “What’s going on?” Seph ran over to the other kids and they started talking.

“Hey Rhodey.” Tony and Rhodey smiled at each other, then Tony turned to Justin with a cold expression on his face. “Hammer.” Justin flinched, and Rhodey placed a comforting arm around his shoulder.

“Tony,” He said, glaring. “Leave it, seriously.”

“Jesus, fine, god,” Tony said, rolling his eyes. He walked back over to the table where the food was. Steve followed him.

“What was that about?” Steve asked him.

“Nothing, just we don’t exactly get along.” Steve shrugged and looked over to where Rhodey was sitting with Justin on the sofa.

“Still, don’t treat other people like that. There’s something he isn’t telling you, clearly.” Tony hummed, clearly not paying attention.

“He seems like Loki, when she arrived on Earth,” Steve commented.

“What? He’s nothing like Loki!”

“Think about it. He’s quiet, and he flinches at loud noises and things like what you just did. He’s scared, Tony. I don’t know the guy, but it seems like he needs support.”

“Oh, hey Natasha,” Loki said. Nat had somehow gotten in without anybody noticing. “You made it.”

“Barely,” she smiled, then noticed Justin. “Justin, right?”

Justin looked up from where he was talking quietly with Rhodey. “Yeah. You remember me from that one time you slammed me into a desk?”

Nat snorted. “Yeah.” She sat next to Justin, on the other side to Rhodey. “You’re out of prison?”

“Yeah, thank god.”

“Was it that bad?”

“You have no idea,” Justin said quietly.

“Okay,” Nat said. “I won’t press. You would tell me if you were okay with it. Tell me if you want to, but I don’t hold a grudge for what you did.”

“Thank you,” Justin said. He smiled at her and Nat smiled back.

“Okay, we’ve chosen a movie,” Ste said.

“Great! Let’s get started,” Tony said. As if on cue, Sam walked in.

“Hi,” He said. Steve walked over.

“Hey, Sam. Let me introduce you to everyone. You already know Nat. This is Loki, Justin and Rhodey.” Sam waved to them and they waved back.

“And this is Loki and Justin’s kids. Sophie, Ste, Theo and Seph.”

“Cool. Nice to meet everybody.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Everything was going perfectly until the credits. Wanda and Vision had shown up at some point, and everybody had eaten pizza, and the kids had run off to the twins’ room to play.

Then Justin’s phone rang. He didn’t recognise the caller ID, but picked it up anyway.

“Hello?”

“Hey, blondie.”

All the colour drained from Justin’s face and Rhodey turned to look at him. “John?”

“You got it, baby.”

“H-how did you get my number?” Justin was starting to panic now. If he knew that what else did he know?

“It took me a while, but I have some friends. You know, I never knew you had a daughter. Didn’t peg you for the parent type.”

“What do you want?”

“Not much, just you,” John said nonchalantly.

“Why?”

“Because I can. And I want you. And you can’t exactly say no, now, can you? I’ll be in touch, baby. Don’t go anywhere.” John hung up.

Justin put his phone on the coffee table, tears streaming down his face. He took off his glasses and put his head in his hands.

“Justin?” Rhodey knelt in front of him, placing a hand on his neck. “Justin, talk to me. What happened?”

“You know I told you there was a man in prison?”

Rhodey’s voice conveyed how angry he felt. “Yes.”

“He’s out of prison. He got my phone number somehow, I don’t know. But he said that he’ll be in touch and now what do I do?”

Rhodey sat beside him on the sofa and wrapped his arms around the shaking man. “Hey. Don’t worry. I’ve got you. We’ll take care of you. Nothing is going to happen to you. I won’t let that happen.”

“What happened?” Sam said, walking over.

“Guess I can’t hide it now, can I?” Justin wiped his eyes and sat up straight. Steve, Nat, Loki Tony and Bruce all stood in front of the coffee table to listen.

“When I was in prison, there was this man, named John. He...uh, he- I can’t actually say it out loud, so I’ll just call it assault. He assaulted me quite a few times over my sentence. I suppose you get the gist of what assaulted means.” Justin said quietly. Everybody seemed shocked at the information apart from Loki, who already knew.

Rhodey immediately turned to Tony, who was staring at the floor. “I think an apology is in order, Tony.”

Tony nodded, and looked at Justin. “Shit, man, I’m sorry. It was wrong. I’m really sorry.”

Justin smiled weakly. “It’s alright. I’m not mad at you. You didn’t know what happened. I don’t think that is a thing I am physically capable of anymore.”

“That’s alright, Justin. We’ll protect you. That man can burn in hell for what he did,” Steve said.

“Thank you,” Justin said. “For everything.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Rhodey went back to the apartment with Justin. Seph had fallen asleep, and Rhodey offered to carry her. Justin lay her down on the bed, and Rhodey assisted in getting her into her nightie. Rhodey watched as Justin tucked her in and kissed her forehead.

“So, tonight was crazy, huh?” Rhodey asked once they were out in the hallway.

“Yeah.” Justin looked at the floor.

“I should probably get going.” Rhodey turned to leave, but Justin caught his sleeve.

“Wait.” Rhodey turned back around.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t feel safe on my own at night, so what I guess I’m saying is, spend the night? If it’s not too much hassle.” Rhodey smiled.

“Of course not,” Rhodey said. He stepped in.

When Justin fell asleep that night, with his head resting on Rhodey’s shoulder and their arms around one another, he got a better sleep than he had since he got out.

Rhodey stayed awake long after Justin had fallen asleep, watching him breathe deeply. Rhodey smiled in the dark. He rested his forehead on top of Justin’s, and fell asleep, something warm blossoming in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave comments and kudos for Justin to live a happy life.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Have a great week guys!


	7. Gardening and don’t answer the fucking phone Justin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura teaches the kids how to garden and Justin gets another call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve re-written this story and the one before to take place after AOU. It won’t affect the plot much, but it might help to reread it.
> 
> Also, remember Justin’s brother Jason? He’s a character from another movie called Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri. It’s not relevant to the plot yet, but it will be.
> 
> Enjoy!

********

5th April

Half term had come around, and Laura had said that now it was gardening season, she was starting planting.

Loki stood in the garden in a light green cotton shirt and blue overalls. Laura was showing the children how to garden. Loki had bought each of the children their own small watering can. She watched as they made a small hole with their shovels, placed the seed inside, and covered them up. Then they took the watering can and sprinkled it lightly with water.

“Hey,” Laura said, walking over. “You look like you’re on a different planet. You alright?”

“Yes, I’m perfectly fine. How’s Clint?” Loki asked.

“He’s away on a mission again. I worry about him a lot. He’ll be fine though. He’s been doing this for a long time.”

“Yes, he has.”

“Hey, did you hear that Justin started working with Tony in the workshop?” Laura asked.

“Yeah, good for him. Tony said that he needed someone who could give him a second opinion on weapons.”

“He told me he was glad to get out of the house rather than be at home all day.”

“That’s fair.” Justin had told Loki that he wasn’t sure he could be at home alone, and he was drawn to the scissors in the kitchen. Rhodey had been staying with him, but he was off on War Machine business with Tony.

A noise brought their attention back to the children. They were now spraying each other with their watering cans. It was pretty hot, so it was fair. Loki pushed up her sleeves and sighed.

“God, it’s warm,” Loki said.

“What happened to your arms?” Laura asked.

“Oh, uh, Hela scratched me,” Loki said unconvincingly.

“Sure,” Laura said. Loki was sure that she didn’t believe that, but it was nice of her not to press.

“I have to go. Gotta pick the kids up from swimming,” Laura said.

“Bye,” Loki said. She watched the kids enjoy their time in the sun for a few minutes.

“God, I leave for three days and everything gets weird,” a voice said from behind her. “Loki’s cheerful and the kids look like Grimer from Pokemon.”

“Dad!” Theo yelled, and ran towards him. Tony exited the suit and caught her just in time.

“Hey, kid. How’s it going with the gardening?” He asked.

“Pretty good,” Theo said. “I’m super muddy now. Look!” Theo slowly extended her grubby fingers towards his face, while Tony moved his head back.

“Noooo. Nope. Down you go,” Tony said, putting her down. She giggled and ran off.

“Where’s Rhodey? I thought he was on the mission with you,” Loki said.

“He’s gone to the cinema with Justin and Seph. Apparently, he’s been looking forward to it,” he said, rolling his eyes. Tony was working to get over his differences with Justin, but some animosity still remained.

“Told you he cares,” Loki replied.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Tony said, sitting down.

“It’s so odd. Apparently, they share the same bed when Rhodey stays over, and that’s most nights. Why doesn’t he just get the guts to ask Justin out?” Tony asked.

“Rhodey doesn’t want to make the first move,” Loki said. Justin had received a few more calls, nothing extreme.

“He cares about Justin more than most of us,” Tony said.

“More than any of us,” Loki said.

~~~~~~~~~~

Two days later

Justin was at work, which had become his saving grace. He had told Rhodey about how he didn’t feel safe on his own, which had been passed on to Tony, so Tony offered to give him the chance to work on weapons for the Avengers. Justin would take any opportunity to get out of his apartment, even if it meant going to work.

Justin was talking with Tony about some potential weapons when it happened. His phone rang again. There was no Caller ID, so it was probably John.

“Who is it?” Tony said.

“I don’t know. Might be John,” Justin said, going over to pick up his phone, which he had left over on a table.

“Don’t answer it,” Tony said.

“You can’t stop me,” Justin said. He answered the phone and Tony stepped back to give him some privacy.

“Hey, baby,” John’s voice said.

Justin swallowed and took a deep breath. “Hello, John. What do you want, I’m at work.” Justin unconsciously started digging his nails into his palm again.

“Oh, you have a job now? Good for you, Jus. I’m back in New York. Who knows? Maybe we might bump into each other.” Justin dug his nails in harder.

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

“Because I don’t want to, blondie. You’re too sweet to let go,” John said. Shouting from the other end of the phone brought the conversation to an end. “Bye, Jus. I’ll call you again.” Justin bit back his response of ‘Please don’t’, and simply hung up.

He lowered the phone and took a deep breath. He heard dripping, and looked down. His right hand was dripping blood on the floor. Tony walked over, and Wanda chose that exact moment to walk in.

“Uh, Tony, Loki just- Justin? Are you okay?” Justin shook his head slightly.

“No,” he said. “Not even close.”

“You want to talk about it?” Justin shook his head again.

“Either way, we should get that hand checked out. Maybe get some bandages or something.”

“I’ll stay here,” Tony said. “You said something about Loki, Wanda?”

“Oh, yeah, she just emailed me to tell you that you left your phone at her house.”

“I’ve been wondering where that went,” Tony said. “Thanks kid.” He walked away and Wanda got the bandages out of the first aid kit.

Thankfully, Wanda didn’t comment, only wiped away the blood and disinfected it. She bandaged his hand, then Vision showed up and called her away.

Once Justin seemed a bit calmer, Tony asked, “What happened? Did you get a call or something?”

“Yeah, it was John again.”

“This is getting worrying now. What does he look like?”

“Uh, muscles, short blond hair, he has a weird scar above his left eye. His eyes are blue,” Justin said, taking a deep breath.

“I can get some people to keep an eye out for him, if that would help,” Tony said, walking over and putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Why are you doing this for me?”

“Steve made me realise something. You’re a lot like Loki when she first arrived on Earth. I feel a weird protective instinct now that I’ve realised that. Also, do you know how hard Loki slaps? That shit hurts,” Tony said.

Justin snorted. “Thanks,” He said.

~~~~~~~~~~

Nobody noticed his hand until he got home. Rhodey was already at home, after his mission, and he picked up Seph from her friend’s, the angel.

Justin stuck his head into Seph’s room. “Hey, kid,” he said.

“Hi Dad,” Seph replied. That was good enough for Justin, so he went to the kitchen, where Rhodey was. As soon as Rhodey saw him, he stood up.

“What happened to your hand?” He asked. Rhodey walked over and took it in both of his hands.

“Um, it’s a long story,” Justin said. “You can take the bandage off. It’s fine.”

Rhodey slowly unwrapped his hand and placed the bandages on the table. He turned the hand over slowly, and gasped when he saw the cuts.

“Was this your nails?” Rhodey asked carefully. Justin nodded. Rhodey sighed and pulled him in for a tight hug, resting his head on the top of Justin’s. “Did you get another call?”

“Yes. He said that he was in New York,” Justin replied. “Tony knows, by the way,” he added, when he felt Rhodey tense. “He’s going to keep an eye out for him.”

“Okay,” Rhodey said, pulling away. “I’ll make some dinner,” he kissed Justin’s forehead. “Relax for a few minutes. I’ll stick a pizza in the oven.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Rhodey stayed up for an extra hour after Justin went to bed that night. He sent an email to Pepper, and Happy. He also notified Steve, just to be safe. He wasn’t taking any chances.

When he did get round to going to bed, Justin was already asleep. Rhodey got undressed, before sliding into bed with him. He wrapped an arm around Justin’s torso. Rhodey picked up Justin’s still-injured hand and pressed a soft kiss to it. Justin smiled and shifted slightly.

“I knew you cared,” he whispered softly. Not so asleep after all.

“I’ll always care about you,” Rhodey whispered back. Justin moved both their arms until he could comfortably entwine their fingers together. Rhodey smiled and kissed his nose.

“You missed,” Justin mumbled so quietly that Rhodey wasn’t even sure if he heard it.

“What?” Justin shifted up a bit and connected their lips. After a short while, Justin pulled away. They rested their foreheads together, Rhodey sliding his hands down to sit on Justin’s waist.

“I’ll always care about you,” Rhodey whispered again.

“I care about you too,” was the quiet, sleepy reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and kudos! It really helps with motivation.
> 
> Thanks for reading! See you all next week!


	8. The Party, and a bit more

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost entirely fluff, but nothing lasts.

13th May

Loki sat on a bench with Hela on her lap, watching her children play in the garden. It was the twins’ birthday, and a few friends had been invited for a get together. The children had water guns, and were spraying each other and sliding in the mud. Tony was watching them and laughing. Phil, Nick, Nat and Thalia were sitting at the patio table eating burgers that Vision was frying.

“Hey,” Wanda said, sitting next to her. “Loki, right?”

“Yes,” Loki said, smiling at her. “What is it?”

“Well, Steve said that you could teach me something about my powers,” Wanda replied.

“Of course,” Loki said. “What is your main problem?”

“Keeping it under control,” she said.

“I can teach you a trick for that.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Steve, are you playing matchmaker?” Justin said, watching Loki and Wanda talk from inside. It was too hot for Justin to wear long sleeves and be comfortable, and Sam and Steve were keeping him company inside.

“So what if I am?”

“You’re good at it,” Justin said. Sam snorted.

“I don’t know about that. He’s good with everything but himself,” Sam told him from where he was leaning on a kitchen counter. Justin leaned his arms on the table.

“Really? Tell me more,” Justin asked, resting his chin on his arms.

“There’s nothing specific, just that he’s bad at relationships in general,” Sam said.

Justin snorted. “You’re not the only one.”

“Hey,” Sam said, sitting beside him. “It’s not your fault. You did nothing wrong. You Shawshank Redemptioned the shit out of an awful situation, and you came out on top.” Justin nodded, and hid his face in his arms.

Fenrir came over and rubbed his nose against Justin’s leg. Sam lifted him up.

“See? Fenrir wants you to be happy,” Sam said. Justin laughed and wiped the tears from his eyes, talking the puppy from Sam’s arms.

“Hello,” Justin said. Fenrir licked Justin’s nose and lips and Justin sputtered for a moment, wiping his face on his sleeve. “Ugh. Dog slobber.” Steve laughed.

“Maybe you should get a dog, Jus,” Steve said. Jus. Nobody had called him that since...

“You’re so sweet, Jus,” John said, wiping a tear from his cheek. John seemed to enjoy seeing him in pain, or at least tears. “Don’t make me hurt you.” John pushed him against the table, and-

“Justin? Justin!” Sam was talking to him. He lying on the floor, next to the table. Steve was standing there, looking concerned. Justin flinched when he looked at Steve. “Steve, get out,” Sam said, looking concerned.

“But-”

“Get out. Now,” Steve went outside, and Sam helped Justin sit up slowly. “You okay? What happened?”

“Just a flashback,” Justin said. “I’m fine, really.”

“You sure?” Sam asked. Justin nodded.

“I just need a few minutes,” Justin said.

“Should I tell Steve that it’s okay for him to come back inside?” Sam asked, helping Justin to sit on the sofa, Fenrir coming to sit with him.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. He looks a lot like John, and it kinda fucks me up,” Justin said.

“Justin? Are you okay? Steve told me what happened,” Loki said, stepping in.

“I’m fine,” Justin said. Sam raised his eyebrows. “Well, not really, but I can pretend I am.”

“Shall we go outside?” Loki asked. Justin nodded and Loki took his hand. They went outside to sit on the bench with Wanda. Vision came over and handed Justin a burger.

“So,” Phil said, sitting on a chair that was opposite the bench, “what happened?”

“Um, Steve said something,” Justin said quietly.

“What was it?”

“John had some stupid pet names for me, and one of them was Jus. Steve called me that, and, I don’t know, maybe it triggered something, but I imagined that I was back, um...” Justin swallowed and looked at the floor.

“So it was the name?” Phil asked carefully.

“Yeah, it was,” Justin replied.

“Okay. Were there any others, just to be safe?”

“Uh, baby, though I highly fucking doubt anybody is going to call me that, and blondie.”

“Alright,” Phil said, standing up. “I’ll tell everybody else, so they know. Is that okay?” Justin nodded. Phil walked back over to the others to explain what was going on. They nodded in understanding and Justin watched Steve hit himself in the face and groan.

“Oh God, now I feel like an awful person,” Steve said.

“Yeah, you’re a devil, Steve, burn in Hell, you horrific human being,” Justin laughed. “It’s fine. It’s not your fault, you didn’t know.”

“Thanks, man.” Justin smiled, and ate his burger slowly, watching Wanda and Loki talk about Wanda’s powers.

~~~~~~~~~~

A few days later

“Ooh, guns.”

“Charming,” Tony replied. “I really should be concerned about you, shouldn’t I?”

“And you weren’t before?” Tony was showing Justin some old guns he had from back when he designed them. “I’m kinda surprised you kept these.”

“Yeah, emotional attachment.”

“You have an emotional attachment to guns,” Justin said incredulously.

“Hey, says the guy who just said ooh, guns when he saw them,” Tony countered.

“Yeah, we’re so fucked up,” Justin said. “What’s new?”

“Not a thing.”

“Nope,” Loki said, walking in. “You guys are crazy.”

“Yeah, but you love us for it,” Tony replied.

“And I slightly regret it,” Loki said, sitting down. “Ow.”

“You okay?” Justin asked.

“Yeah, just cramps. I made this body too accurate.”

“Cramps?” Tony asked.

“Jesus, Tony. Totally clueless,” Justin said, shaking his head. “Have you ever heard of a period?”

“Oh,” Tony stared at the floor. Idiot. “Wait, since when did you know stuff about cramps?”

“My ex got them really bad. Like passing out, throwing up bad.”

“Yeah, I don’t have them too bad right now,” Loki said.

“Should I go and get you a hot water bottle?” Justin asked.

“Yeah, that’d be great,” Loki replied. Justin walked off and Tony helped Loki over to a couch that Tony had in his lab. She lay down and Tony propped her head up with a pillow.

“I’ll get you some ibuprofen and some water, so just chill, okay?” Loki nodded. Tony kissed her forehead and walked off.

“Here you go,” Justin said, returning with a filled hot water bottle. He placed it on Loki’s stomach and she gasped in relief.

“Thank the Norns,” She said. “This is awful.” Justin brushed some hair off of her forehead and smiled.

“Tony’ll be back soon, so just get some sleep. I’m guessing you didn’t get much last night?”

“Nope. Not a bit. The cramps kicked in around three, but it hurt too much to get up. Theo woke up and she went to get me some painkillers, which was nice of her,” Loki closed her eyes. “Thanks, Justin.”

“Not a problem.”

“Here we are,” Tony handed a pill to Loki along with the water. He also did the same to Justin, who frowned at it.

“The fuck is this?”

Tony laughed. “Apparently, antidepressants. You forgot to take them, according to Rhodey. He dropped them off earlier.”

Justin took the pills. “Sweet fuck, I don’t deserve that man.”

“Yes, you do,” Loki said. “Rhodey really does care about you. You deserve someone who loves you unconditionally, who doesn’t mind helping you through your panic attacks, or getting you water when you wake up from nightmares at 3am. That is what Rhodey does for you. And what Tony does for me. And if you don’t deserve Rhodey, then I sure as fuck don’t deserve Tony.”

Justin smiled. “Thank you.” He smiled softly.

“I think I prefer period you to normal you,” Tony said.

“Jesus fuck, Tony! Way to ruin the moment!” Justin burst out laughing. Loki gave a sleepy chuckle before falling asleep.

“Shall we go?” Tony whispered. Justin nodded and they both left the lab, switching the light off as they went.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Tony!”

“Oh shit. Heeey, Pepper!” Tony sat up from where he was lying on the couch watching movies with Justin.

“There is still a ton of details about the wedding that we haven’t cleared up,” Pepper said. Justin moved his legs off the couch so that she could sit down. “Thank you, Justin.”

“Okay, like what?”

“Flowers, food and the guest list is a mess,” Pepper said.

“Great. All of those things I would usually say ask Loki but she is currently passed out in the lab.”

“What? Is she okay?”

“She’s fine, Pepper. Period cramps,” Justin said from where he was grabbing coffee.

“Oh. Okay.”

“And I can give advice on flowers if you want,” Justin said, returning with coffee.

“Really? Like what?”

“Well, flowers have lots of different meanings. I’d suggest looking them up.”

“Any examples?”

Justin chewed his cheek in thought before replying. “Roses are the obvious choice. But there are also a fuckton of different colours of roses. Red roses mean passion, an absolute classic, so they’re almost a given.”

“Yeah, but cliché to the max,” Tony said. “We aren’t exactly your normal couple.”

“Well, you could always go with purple,” Justin suggested. “Purple is the colour of enchantment, or magic. It seems like the obvious choice.”

“Wait, let me get a picture up,” Pepper said. “Wow, these are beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Justin said, looking at the pictures. “Pair them with baby’s breath, which means undying love, and you’ve got yourself a match that works perfectly.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Tony said.

“Bull. You haven’t been paying attention at all, have you?” Justin asked.

“Hell no.”

“Typical.”

“Thank you for your help, Justin,” Pepper said, rolling her eyes. “Tony, any ideas on the food?”

“What’s wrong with the food again?” Tony groaned, rolling onto the floor.

“You haven’t even chosen a menu yet,” Pepper said.

“Why not a buffet?”

“Justin, stop planning my wedding for me,” Tony said from the floor.

“Do you have a problem with it?” Justin asked.

“No...” Tony mumbled.

“Exactly, So shut up.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Loki? Hey, Reindeer Games, I need you, so you’re gonna have to snap back to existence and pain for a while,” Tony said, waking Loki up.

“Very well, Tony. What is it?”

“The wedding. The guest list is still fucked,” Tony told her.

“Ah, yes. I still need to decide whether or not to invite some Asgardians,” Loki said, sitting up and swinging her legs off the sofa.

“Yeah, Pep’s waiting in the lounge, so let’s go see her,” Tony said.

They walked to the lounge, where Justin was watching Friends reruns with Pepper.

“It’s always like the same episode they have on repeat,” Justin said.

“I know, it’s so weird,” Pepper replied. “Oh, you’re back! How are you feeling, Loki?”

“Not too awful, Pepper,” Loki said.

“Perfect. So, I was looking at the guest list. Your side of the aisle is looking a bit... thin, shall we say,” Pepper said, pulling out her tablet.

“Yes, well so far, I think I have Clint’s family on my side, my children, obviously, but after that, I’m stuck,” Loki said. “I’m thinking of inviting my mother, and Heimdall. And Lin, and her family. They are all the people I want there.”

“Well, how are we getting invites there?” Tony asked.

“I know a way,” Loki replied.

“Perfect,” Pepper said. “I’ll get you some that were left, you can send them off.”

“Of course,” Loki said, smiling slightly.

“Oh Christ, Loki, check the time,” Justin said, looking at his watch.

“Oh. Whoops.”

“What?”

“The kids. We need to go get them,’ Justin said, getting up from the sofa.

“No need,” said a voice behind them. Rhodey walked out of the lift with the children, including Seph. ‘Decided to give them a treat, we stopped for ice-cream.” Justin walked to Rhodey, and pulled him into a hug. Rhodey put his arms on Justin’s waist and rested his head on Justin’s.

“Dad!” Theo ran towards Tony and he caught her in his arms and lifted her up. The twins ran to Tony as well, talking excitedly.

“How was your day, guys?”

 

“Dad, there’s a trip soon, can we go on it?” Sophie asked excitedly.

“Well, we’ll have to talk about it over dinner,” Tony said. “What kind of trip is it?”

“It’s a day trip to Stark Tower,” Ste said. Tony burst out laughing.

“Sure, why not?”

~~~~~~~~~~

“God, what a day,” Tony said, flopping down on the bed beside Loki. “First you start dying, then the kids start harassing me. Jesus.”

“It’s not so bad, love,” Loki said, putting down her book. “I’m always calm.” She pressed her lips to Tony’s.

“Mmm,” Tony said, leaning into the kiss. “Wanna test that?”

Loki smirked. “I don’t see why not.”

Tony’s eyes darkened and he flipped Loki onto the bed, climbing on top of her and kissing her, not softly but not violently either.

~~~~~~~~~~

Tony pulled out and pressed his lips to Loki’s, breathing hard.

“Oh, fuck.”

Loki looked at him. “What?”

“The condom ripped,” Tony threw it in the bin and lay on the bed. “Fuck.”

Loki’s eyes widened. “That isn’t ideal, but there isn’t a one-hundred percent chance, and is it really that bad? I don’t mind.”

Tony looked up at her from where she was sitting up, putting her pyjamas back on. “Really? You really mean that?”

Loki nodded. “Of course, my love.” Tony smiled and kissed her again.

“God, I love you.”

“I love you too, Tony.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated!
> 
> See you guys next week!


	9. The Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding, or the calmness before the shitshow, whatever works for you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so bad, I’ve had a bad week.

20th June

Loki stood in front of the mirror and smiled. Her special day, second time around. Only this time it would be special. Her dress was beautiful, and she chose it herself. Justin knocked on the door.

“Loki? Ready?” Loki opened the door to Justin and smiled.

“Yes,” Loki said, unable to keep the smile from her face. Justin returned the smile and adjusted the wonky sash around her waist.

“You look beautiful,” He told her.

“Loki?” Frigga came around the corner and gasped. “You look beautiful.”

“Mother! You made it!” Loki hugged her tightly and turned round to introduce her to Justin. “Justin, this is my mother, Frigga. Mother, this is Justin.”

“Um, it’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” Justin said.

“And you, Justin,” she replied.

“Justin has been a great friend of mine. I met him last year at the children’s school. I am sure that you would find him a wonderful man,” Loki said. Justin blushed slightly.

“I don’t know about that, Lokes,” Justin said shyly.

“Justin! We have to go!” Rhodey yelled.

“Oh Jesus! Coming! Bye Loki. See you in a minute, I guess!” Justin ran off to join Rhodey, who took his hand. Loki watched them go, a smile on her face.

“They seem happy,” Frigga commented.

“Yes, Rhodey is a very good friend of Tony and myself. He is very close to Justin as well. They live together, and I think they are a good match,” Loki said.

“Loki! You need to get ready,” Pepper said.

“Ah! Thank you, Pepper. This way, mother,” Loki said.

Loki took Frigga’s arm and led her outside. She and Tony had decided to host the wedding outside, because the weather was nice. Tony did some digging, and found an appropriate venue, and although Tony said that he didn’t care about price, Loki was glad that it was cheap.

They walked around the back of the seats, and begun the walk.

~~~~~~~~~~

When Loki came into Tony’s view, he started tearing up. Watching her walk so confidently made him smile. From when she arrived on Earth, when she jumped at loud noises, to now, when she could happily walk in front of all these people, it was a vast difference.

When she came into everyone else’s view, a few seconds after, there was a collective gasp. Tony couldn’t blame them. She truly did look beautiful. When she reached Tony, she took his hand, and she smiled at him.

They had managed to convince Nick to conduct the service, and though Tony found it kinda weird, he didn’t mind all that much.

“Friends, family, freneimes,” the congregation laughed, “we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Tony and Loki. These two people have loved each other for around a year now, they have spent much time together and experienced many hardships together, so now they’re going to do it officially!” The congregation laughed and Tony heard Rhodey snort from behind him. Choosing Nick was the right way to go.

Nick shuffled through his cards before speaking again. “You know what, this stuff is just waffle, so let’s just skip straight to the vows. Tony!”

Tony recovered from his laughter before speaking. “Loki, you are an amazing person. You make me so happy, whenever I see your face I have to stop myself from smiling like a maniac. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone in my life, and I an so glad that you return the feeling. And besides, I need someone to take care of me because I’m a constant mess.” Loki laughed and Tony could feel himself start to cry.

“Tony, my love, I completely agree. On everything. Including the constant mess. You have been my saviour over this past year or so. I love you for saving me, and I love you for loving my- our children. This past year has been the best year of my life, and I hope that it’s all this good.”

“And now for wherever the rings are,” Nick said, gesturing around. Ste stepped forward, holding the rings in his hands. “There they are.”

Loki took one of the rings from Ste and took Tony’s hand. “I, Loki, give you, Tony, this gift as a symbol of my everlasting and eternal love for and of you.”

Tony took the other ring and took Loki’s hand in return, and nodded to Justin, who stood behind Loki. Loki turned but Tony turned her head back to ensure that the surprise stayed a surprise. “I, Tony, give you, Loki, these gifts as symbols of my everlasting and eternal love for and of you.” Loki looked confused at the wording, and Tony turned her around.

Justin was holding a box that held two throwing knives. They were perfectly balanced, with small green gems set in the silver hilts.

“I know this is a weird wedding gift, but I designed these knives myself. I hope they work well for you.”

“Oh my god!” Loki took one of the knives and held it in her hand. “These are beautiful. Thank you.”

“Um, you may now kiss the bride, I guess,” Nick said, looking slightly disturbed.

Tony pulled Loki into a long, passionate kiss, to whistles from the congregation. Tony broke the kiss and whispered against Loki’s lips. “Fucking Clint.” Loki laughed and took his hand. They ran down the aisle and everybody stood to clap.

They stopped suddenly and Loki threw her bouquet. A whoop came from behind her and she turned around. Justin had caught the bouquet. Rhodey’s jaw dropped before he started to grin uncontrollably.

Tony yelled over to Rhodey. “You got a problem with that?”

“Not at all!”

~~~~~~~~~~

Justin sat at a table with Rhodey, Seph, Clint and his family. He looked over to where Tony and Loki were sitting with their children, and Frigga. They all seemed happy.

“So, what’s this surprise you warned me about?” Rhodey asked. Loki had shared some news with Justin about a week before the wedding and Rhodey was curious about what had gotten him so excited.

“You’ll see,” Justin smirked. Rhodey rolled his eyes. A clink of glass took Justin’s attention back to Loki’s table.

“If you could pay attention for a little while longer, there is an announcement to be made,” Pepper said.

Loki stood up before speaking. “So, we are going to play a guessing game. As I assume very few people are aware, I have been feeling quite ill over the past couple weeks. It is not a stomach bug, nor any kind of illness. I usually experience it in the mornings. What is it?”

A few people gasped and raised their hands. Loki picked one. “Wanda?”

“Are you pregnant?”

“We have a winner! Correct, Wanda, I am pregnant. And Tony hasn’t realised,” she sad, turning to Tony, who had his head in his hands. “Tony?”

“Really?” He asked, tilting his head towards Loki. Now he really was crying.

“Yes!” Tony leapt up and hugged her.

“Wait, what?” Ste asked Theo.

“Mum’s pregnant. We’re getting another sibling,” Theo said.

“Oooooh,” Ste said, finally getting it. “Cool!”

Rhodey turned to Justin. “You knew!”

Justin nodded. “I did.”

“You didn’t tell me!”

“That’s why it’s a surprise, genius!”

“You’re unbelievable,” Rhodey said, shaking his head.

Justin snorted. “I try my best.”

~~~~~~~~~~

5th July

“Seph, let’s go,” Rhodey yelled.

“Kay,” she said. Justin watched as Rhodey helped her put her bag on her back.

“Justin,” Rhodey called from the hallway.

“Don’t forget your meds,” he said. “They’re over there.”

“I won’t, don’t worry,” Justin replied. He took the medication as Rhodey took Seph to school. Once the door shut, he started packing for work. He grabbed his laptop from his room and sat on the sofa to put it in his bag. Then the doorbell rang. He left his bag on the sofa and went to the door.

He opened it, and a muscular man with blond hair and blue eyes stood at the door. John.

“Hey, baby,” He said, walking in without invitation and shutting the door behind him. “How’ve you been? Took me a while to find out where you were, but eventually I did.” Justin took a step back. Oh fuck. Oh god no

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! See you all next week!


	10. This is not a game, this is war

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Justin’s life goes to shit very fucking quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for this chapter. I needed to give this story a plot somehow. It will get better, though.

Justin was getting ready for work when it happened. Rhodey had already taken Seph to school, so he was home on his own. He was sitting on the sofa putting stuff in his bag when the doorbell rang.

He opened it, and a muscular man with blond hair and blue eyes stood at the door. John.

“Hey, baby,” He said, walking in without invitation and shutting the door behind him. “How’ve you been? Took me a while to find out where you were, but eventually I did.” Justin took a step back. Oh fuck. Oh god no.

“Why are you here?” Justin said, pressing up against the wall, looking around for something, anything to prevent the inevitable. Nope. You’re fucked, Justin.

“I asked you a question,” John said. He put an arm over Justin’s head and leaned down, smiling predatorially.

Justin swallowed. “I’m good.”

“Good,” John said, placing a hand on Justin’s waist. Justin resisted the urge to shake it off. “Now that we’ve established that, shall we have some fun?”

Justin’s eyes widened and he started to sob, trying to sink further into the wall. “Please, god no. No.” John grabbed him by the arm, painfully, and pulled him close.

“Do you make the rules around here?” Justin shook his head. “No. You don’t. I don’t want to hurt you, Jus.” John turned and looked around. “So, where’s the bedroom?”

“No. Nonononono,” Justin started saying, but John turned around.

“You’d rather have it against the wall, blondie?” Justin shook his head and led the way to the bedroom. John shut that door as well. He was trapped.

John chuckled and took off his shirt. “Go on, blondie. Strip.” With shaking hands, Justin slowly pulled off his t-shirt and unbuttoned his jeans. He slowly took them off, until he was only in his boxers.

“Beautiful,” John said, stepping forward, towards Justin. He tried to step away, but John put a muscular arm around his waist and pulled him close. John grabbed the back of his neck and pressed a deep, bruising kiss to Justin’s lips. He then rested their foreheads together, like Rhodey did. “You are beautiful. And that’s why I want you.”

John shoved Justin and he fell heavily on the bed.

“Move, put your hands on the headboard,” John said threateningly. Justin hesitated, but John grabbed his chin, forced him to meet his eyes. “Move.” Justin, shaking, moved to put his hands on the headboard, watching as John took a bottle of lube and some restraints from his pocket and tossed it on the bed, before taking off his jeans and boxers. John tied his hands to the headboard. Justin just rested his head back and thought about how stupid he was to think that he was safe.

Justin was pulled out of his thoughts by John putting his hand on Justin’s waist. John ran his fingers along the waistband, dragging his fingers across Justin’s skin. Justin whimpered and shut his eyes. He refused to cry. He refused to show weakness.

John smirked and pressed a kiss to Justin’s neck. “Feeling sensitive today, baby?” Justin shook his head. “Well that’s just too bad.” John hooked his fingers over Justin’s waistband and started to pull his boxers down slowly. Justin started to breathe quicker, but John shushed him and pressed another kiss to his lips, this time soft, almost enough to be loving, if it wasn’t for what he was here to do.

Slowly, Justin’s boxers were pulled off him and tossed on the floor. John pressed a kiss to Justin’s hipbone. “Y’know, we didn’t really have time for this kind of thing back in prison, so we can do it now.” John sucked a hickey into Justin’s hip, then moved his way up his body, creating a line of hickeys, up to his neck where he stopped.

He pressed a slick finger into Justin’s hole, and Justin gasped and bit down on his lip, not wanting any sound to escape, to give John any reason to think he wanted it. He was too scared to vocalise anything though. The thick finger massaged inside him, slowly becoming two, while John pressed soft kisses to his neck.

John pulled away from Justin’s neck, and added a third finger, watching Justin gasp and writhe, not even trying to hide the fact that it felt good. One of John’s fingers brushed against his prostate and his breath hitched. John chuckled darkly and massaged the spot with his fingers.

“This is when you look best, baby,” John said, looking over his thin, pale body. “This is when I want you. All of you. I want to own you.” Justin looked into his eyes. They were dark with lust. John smashed his lips into Justin’s possessively, his tongue probing for entrance. Justin tried his best to prevent it, but John shifted slightly, and their cocks made contact, making Justin gasp. John licked into Justin’s mouth, over his lips and his teeth.

Not yours, Justin kept thinking. Not yours not yours not yours.

John squirted some of the lube into his hand and rubbed it over his hard cock, and pushed into Justin in one fluid movement. Justin sobbed aloud, tears running down his face. He cried loudly as John’s hips slammed. His waist was being gripped so hard there might be bruises afterwards.

“God, you feel so good, baby. You been putting other guys off for me?” John asked, snapping his hips hard and making Justin wince. He hated himself for enjoying it, for feeling good. He hated that his body was betraying him, and every slam to his prostate made him moan louder. It felt good, in a fucked up way. He came first, completely untouched, and he hated himself for it.

When John came, he bit down harshly on Justin’s neck. Justin cried as the skin broke. It was a deep bite, most likely enough to leave a scar. John let the blood run down his neck, and pulled out slowly. Justin almost whined at the loss, being half asleep and barely aware of what was happening.

John untied him and moved him so that he was lying comfortably. Justin fell asleep, but he did remember John kissing his lips almost lovingly and whispering that he’d be back for him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sam was worried. He checked the time again. 12:30. Justin was never this late. Usually, they met each other in the morning when they arrived. Sometimes, Justin watched them fight in training, and Sam sometimes gave him lessons.

“Hey, have you seen Justin?” He asked Tony, walking into the kitchen.

“No, I was about to ask you that,” Tony replied. The two men shared a look.

“Should we go find him?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

~~~~~~~~~~

When they got to the apartment, the door was shut but not locked. Sam could see Justin’s bag leaning against the sofa. Tony walked quietly into Justin’s bedroom and saw him lying there on the bed. He was asleep, but clearly it wasn’t peaceful, judging by the look on his face. He was in a curled up position, and his thighs were covered in-

“Oh my god, is that-“ Sam asked.

“Yes,” Tony said. He was mad at Thor for what he did to Loki, but now, seeing it firsthand happening to Justin, he was absolutely livid.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Tony heard Sam whisper.

Tony slowly rolled Justin onto his back. He winced in his sleep, but didn’t wake up. Tony looked at the bruises on his hips and wrists, and then his neck. There was a bite mark, but not so much a mark as a bleeding gash. Tony went to the wardrobe and grabbed a zip-up hoodie.

He wrapped it around Justin and zipped it up. It covered his entire torso, and just about covered the top of his thighs. Then he realised that since it was way too big for Justin, maybe it was Rhodey’s. That was probably a good thing, actually. He stood again and Sam picked Justin up bridal style.

“We should get him to the tower. You have doctors there, you can put him in a guest room,” Sam said.

“Good idea,” Tony said. “I’ll call Pepper.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Loki was drinking coffee with Phil in a coffee shop when her phone rang.

“Hey, Tony,” Loki said, taking a sip of her coffee.

“It’s Justin.”

Loki’s eyes went wide. “What happened?”

“Remember that John guy?” Tony asked.

“Of course I do,” Loki responded. “Did he get to him?”

“Yes. We’re taking Justin back to the tower now.”

Loki took a deep breath. “Good. Don’t leave him.”

“I won’t. I never left you.”

“I’ll meet you at the tower. I’m bringing Phil with me by the way,” Loki said.

“Fine. See you there, babe,” Tony said.

“Bye,” Loki hung up.

“What happened?” Phil asked.

“It’s Justin. He got, um, shit, I can’t say it either,” Loki said. “He got assaulted. Sexually.”

“Jesus fuck,” Phil whispered. “Are they going to the hospital?”

“Tony’s taking him back to the tower, it’s safer there,” Loki said. “I’m guessing you want to come with?”

“Of course I do,” Phil responded. “Let’s go.”

~~~~~~~~~~

When they were back at the tower, Tony called Rhodey.

“Hey, man,” Rhodey said. “What’s up?”

“How long until you get back?”

“About a day, why?”

“Cut that down to none, there’s been an emergency.”

“What do you mean, there’s been an emergency?” Rhodey’s voice was ice cold.

“Um, just get back as soon as you can,” Tony said.

“I can cut it down to a few hours if I really have to. Should I?”

Tony turned around to where the doctors were taking care of Justin. “Yeah.”

~~~~~~~~~~

In the end, there were a lot of people at the tower. Loki picked up Seph from school with the twins and Theo, and they were staying at the upstate compound because there was space there, and Wanda and Vision could look after them. Rhodey was at the tower, looking absolutely livid. Sam and Steve were there, along with Phil, who had shown up a bit later, after contacting Nick and Thalia.

“Guys, he’s gonna be asleep for a while, the doctors said. He’ll probably wake up in a few hours,” Tony said. “Once the doctors are happy for him to move, we’re gonna move him into one of the guest rooms.”

“I can go back to Justin’s apartment and grab him some clothes,” Sam said.

“Great, thanks. Take Steve with you. Don’t come back until I contact you,” Tony said.

“Wait, why?” Steve asked.

“Think about it, genius. Not twelve hours ago, he was raped by a man who apparently looks a whole fucking lot like you. And you’ve already given him a panic attack. Maybe just keep your distance for a while,” Phil said. He was just as angry as Rhodey on this, he had made pretty close friends with Justin.

“Okay, we’ll go do that,” Sam said. “We’ll drop off some clothes for Seph as well.”

“Can I see him?” Rhodey asked.

“Sure,” Tony said. He opened the door and Rhodey stepped in quietly.

Justin was lying on the bed almost peacefully. His neck had a plaster on it, and a line of hickeys went down his neck and disappeared into his clothes. There were bruises on his wrists as well.

Rhodey sat down on the edge of the bed. He took Justin’s hand and rubbed circles into the back of it, pressing it to his lips. Justin shifted in his sleep, but Rhodey shushed him. Tony stood in the doorway, unsure of what to do, until Loki took his hand.

“Let’s go,” Loki said softly. Tony nodded and they walked to the lounge, before Loki took Tony into her arms.

“It’s my fault,” Tony sobbed softly. “I said I would protect him, and I fucked it up.”

“No, Tony, it’s not your fault. How would you know what would happen?” Loki comforted him.

“Yeah, but Rhodey’s gonna blame me,” Tony said.

“Yeah, like you blamed Heimdall way back when,” Loki said. Tony winced and Loki rolled her eyes. “Look, it’s not your fault, it’s not Justin’ fault, it’s not mine, not Rhodey’s, not anybody’s but that absolute fucking bastard John’s, so get that through your head. Right now all that we need to do is be there for Justin. And besides, Rhodey might blame you, but Justin won’t. And if Justin doesn’t, then Rhodey will come around. Don’t worry, love.”

Tony nodded and took one of Loki’s hands in his. They sat on the couch, hand in hand, Loki’s head tucked into Tony’s neck and Tony’ face in her hair. They sat there in silence, breathing quietly. Tony rested a hand on Loki’s stomach and she smiled softly.

“You’re not alone, my love.” She whispered to him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rhodey sat with Justin for a long time. He took off his shoes and lay on the bed with him, sitting up. He brushed a few hairs from his forehead. Somebody knocked on the door. Not wanting to wake Justin up, he went to open it.

“Hi,” Phil said.

“Hey,” Rhodey replied.

“You alright?”

Rhodey snorted. “You sure you’re asking that to the right person?”

“Well, I know that you want to be there for Justin and Seph, but you can’t do that if you’re not okay yourself. I want to be there for Justin as well, and I want to know that I can trust you with the situation,” Phil said.

“I’m fine. Just a bit pissed,” Rhodey said, shrugging.

“Good. Be careful, Rhodey. I won’t have a problem removing you from the situation if necessary.”

“Fine.” Phil started to walk away, but he turned around again.

“Oh, and Natasha wanted me to tell you that if you hurt him she’ll chop your dick off,” Phil said, smirking.

Rhodey’s eyes widened. “Duly noted.”

“That was everything,” he said, finally walking off.

Rhodey got over his shock at that warning, and got back into bed with Justin, watching him sleep peacefully. All he could hope for now was that Justin would let him stay near him as he recovered. Or hope that he recovered at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again!
> 
> Leave comments and kudos for Justin to be happy again! And for rhodey to fucking destroy John.
> 
> Have a good week, everyone!


	11. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Justin wakes up, and Rhodey is here to support him. Also, Tony is a bit of a prissy bitch, but who didn’t already know that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late, I have exams next week, so revision is making my life a living hell.  
> Anyway, enjoy!

Justin shifted slightly and cracked open his eyes. This wasn’t his bedroom. He tilted his head slightly to look out of the window. That was definitely a different skyline. And the sun was setting. Somebody moved beside him and he turned his head again. Rhodey was with him, sitting up.

“Hey, sleeping beauty. How are you feeling?” He asked softly. Justin smiled.

“Good. What happened, again? How did I even get here?” He replied. Rhodey’s face dropped.

“You don’t remember, huh?” He said.

Justin tried to think back. What happened? Oh god... Oh Jesus fuck.

“Oh shit,” he said, sitting up. “Jesus fucking Christ.” He wrapped his arms around himself. “John. He-he-he he got to me, he- Fuck.” Rhodey wrapped his arms around Justin and pulled him close, pressing soft kisses to his head.

“What did he do to me,” he whispered.

“Hey, you’re okay. I’ve got you. I’m here. You’re here, with me,” he whispered. Justin sobbed into his chest. Rhodey lay back on the bed, and Justin lay on top of him, his head tucked into Rhodey’s neck. Rhodey stroked his hair until he fell back asleep.

Rhodey watched him breathe. He looked so defenceless, almost childlike.

“Hey,” Loki said, sticking her head in the door. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah. He woke up. He remembers what happened, or rather, I reminded him what happened.”

Loki pulled a face. “Alright. Let Friday know when he wakes up again and I’ll make sure there’s some dinner left for you guys. Tony wants to talk to you guys as well.”

Rhodey nodded, “I’ll pass that on. How’s Seph?”

“Wanda put all the kids to bed a little while ago. They did some homework with Vision, and she took some pictures. I’ll send them to you, they’re pretty funny.”

“Thanks, Loki.”

“Of course, Rhodey.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Tony was going to drop some clothes off in Justin’s room, but the door was locked. “Friday?”

“Colonel Rhodes made sure that only Mrs Stark, Miss Hammer, himself and Mr Hammer could open the door unless they have permission,” Friday said.

“Great. Thanks, Friday,” he replied, walking off to ask Rhodey why.

He found Rhodey sitting at the table eating food with Loki. “You do realise that I’m not a threat to Justin, right?”

Rhodey turned around. “Chances are not a thing that I am taking in this situation, Tony.”

Tony sat next to him. “Yeah, but still.”

Rhodey looked at him with something that was almost a glare. “If this happened to Loki, would you let me in?”

“Wha- but this is entirely-”

“Tony, he has a point,” Loki said. “You wouldn’t. This is the same. He’s right.”

Tony took a deep breath. “Fine. But you should know that I’m almost as angry as you, Rhodey.”

“That may be true, but I won’t hesitate,” he said, standing up.

“Hesitate to what?” Tony asked, standing taller.

“I’m not really sure what I’ll have to do, but I won’t hesitate to do it,” Rhodey replied, stepping closer.

“Bring it on,” Tony said threateningly.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, guys,” Loki said, standing up as well, standing between them. “You’re both pissed off, but don’t- do not- take it out on each other. Save it until we find John.”

“Fine,” Tony said, stepping away and dumping the clothes on the table. “These are the clothes Sam brought. I guess one of you guys can take it to him because I can’t!” He walked away, presumably to his lab.

“Tony-” Loki sighed. “I’ll talk to him. You focus on Justin. He needs you right now.”

“Thanks, Loki. Justin is the most important person to me at the moment. Tony can wait,” He said, getting in the elevator that came up after Tony had left it.

~~~~~~~~~~

When Justin woke up again in the morning, he lay staring at the ceiling. How did this happen... how did he let his guard down so badly... His vision blurred and tears started rolling down his cheeks, and a cool hand wiped them away.

“Hey, J.” Justin shifted to face Rhodey, and brought his hand up to cover Rhodey’s.

“J?” He asked, interlacing their fingers.

“Need to have some kind of pet name for you, don’t I?” Justin laughed quietly.

“Okay. It’s a nice nickname. What’s the time?”

Rhodey smiled at him sadly. “About ten in the morning. Do you feel like getting up? A shower might be a good idea before we go to get breakfast,” he said. “But you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“It’s a good idea,” Justin said. “Help me up?”

“Of course.” As Justin shifted, Rhodey took his hand again and pulled him up. Justin slipped, but Rhodey put an arm behind his torso and brought him slowly into a sitting position. “Okay?”

“Okay.” Justin walked to the bathroom, and Rhodey stood in the doorway. “What?”

“Do you want me to go, or?”

“No, you can come in, it’s not like it’s a problem for me, and besides, I’ll probably have a total mental breakdown anyway,” Justin said.

“Alright,” Rhodey said, stepping in. “Let me know if you want me to leave.” He shut the door and watched as Justin slowly took off the t-shirt that he was wearing. He heard as Justin sharply inhaled as he saw his own torso.

“Rhodey,” Justin whispered, so quiet he almost missed it.

“Yeah?” He stepped slightly closer.

“Kiss me?” He requested.

Rhodey wrapped his arms around Justin’s body and felt him lean into it. “Are you sure?”

“I feel him... everywhere. I need to feel him not be... on me,” Justin whispered. Rhodey pulled away and looked him in the eye, making sure this was what he wanted. He smiled and tilted Justin’s head up, waited for Justin to initiate the kiss rather than him. When soft lips pressed to his, he pressed back softly, carefully.

“J,” he said, pulling away. He rested his forehead on Justin’s.

“I need to shower, huh?” Justin replied.

“Yeah,” Rhodey said, smiling. Justin finished getting undressed as Rhodey put the water on and tested it. “You know, for all the tech Tony has, you’d think he had water that was always warm.”

“Mm,” Justin hummed quietly, not really paying attention, instead staring at himself in the mirror. His hand absentmindedly traced up and down the line of hickeys on his torso. Rhodey stepped behind him, wrapped his arms around the smaller man.

“Hey,” he whispered. Justin’s fingers interlaced with his own. “Look at me.” Rhodey rested his head on Justin’s shoulder and Justin turned his head to look at him. “You’re here with me. Okay?”

Justin kissed him softly. “Yeah.” They pulled away from each other and suddenly Rhodey’s phone rang.

“Shit, I need to answer that. Go on, have a shower, J, I’ll be outside if you need me,” Rhodey said. He stepped outside the bathroom and closed the door, and picked up the phone. “Yep?”

“Quick reminder, it’s Saturday. I was thinking it might be a good idea for everybody to go to the compound,” Sam said. “And Sephy’s just woken up and she’s worried about Justin.”

“Oh shit, uh, yeah. Justin’s in the shower, so once we’ve gotten breakfast, we’ll head over,” Rhodey replied.

“Cool, Wait a minute,” Rhodey could hear Sam talking to somebody else. “I’m passing the phone to Sephy, she wants to talk to you.”

“Ro?” Sephy’s quiet voice came from the phone. “What’s going on?”

“Hey, sweetheart, it’s- it’s a long story. I can’t explain everything right now, but me and your dad are gonna be at the compound real soon, so don’t worry, okay sweetie?”

“Okay,” she whispered. There was quiet for a few moments, until she spoke again. “Ro, is Dad okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, he’s fine. Just be nice to him for the next few days, okay sweetheart?”

“Mmhm,” she hummed.

“Okay, me and your Dad love you, sweetie. Can you pass the phone back to Sam?”

There was rustling, then Sam was back on the line. “Everything okay man?”

“Yeah,” Rhodey said. A noise came from the bathroom. “Shit, I have to go. Call you back, Sam.”

“Course. Bye, man.”

“Bye.” He hung up, and knocked on the door. “J, you okay?” He heard a sob and opened the door. Justin was sitting on the floor of the shower, knees pulled up to his chest, hands balled into fists and blood dripping from them. “J?” He got undressed and stepped into the shower with him, sitting beside the shivering man.

“J, what happened?” He wrapped his arms awkwardly around him, pulled him close, Justin sobbing into his shoulder. “Hey, let’s get showering out of the way first, alright?” He felt Justin nod, and he slowly helped him to his feet. Justin stayed pressed to his chest, crying quietly. He gently placed his hands on Justin’s shoulders, moved him slightly away from himself.

“Hey, look at me,” Rhodey wiped a few tears from Justin’s face. He kissed Justin softly, interlacing their fingers and bringing their joined hands up. He cupped Justin’s hands in his and kissed them. “You’re with me. You’re safe.” Justin nodded, and brought Rhodey’s hand to touch one of the hickeys near his neck.

“I can still feel him, touching me, just everywhere,” Justin whispered. Rhodey traced his fingers down the line, down to his hips, and he placed his hands where the bruises were. Justin wrapped his arms around his neck, kissing him again. Rhodey kissed back, tilting his head so that the kiss could deepen. Justin moaned into his mouth, and pressed against him. They moved, so that Rhodey was pressing him to the cold tiles of the wall.

“J,” Rhodey said, pulling away. Justin looked at him.

“What?”

“This isn’t happening. Not right now,” he said. Justin nodded.

“Okay,” he said, shoving Rhodey off of him. He turned off the shower and grabbed a towel, stepping onto the bathmat. He wrapped it around his waist, grabbing a smaller one to dry his hair. Rhodey took a towel as well, and another one to wrap around Justin’s shoulders.

“Hey,” he said, taking Justin’s hand and tracing his thumbs softly over the cuts on his palms. Justin leaned into him and buried his head in Rhodey’s shoulder. Rhodey put his head on top of Justin’s and they stood like that for what felt like a long time.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

“Dad!” Sephy ran towards Justin and he caught her, lifted her up.

“Ugh, god, Seph, you’re getting heavy,” he said as she buried her head in his neck. “Easy there, spider monkey.”

Rhodey chuckled from where he was sitting on the bench with Loki and Wanda. She was telling him about what the kids had done that day while they were at the compound. Wanda had taught the kids how to cook and somehow, a food fight had broken out, which had resulted in a very funny picture of Vision covered in barbecue sauce, with Theo hovering above him, holding the bottle. Natasha had also taught them some martial arts, apparently.

“I’m genuinely not sure how I feel about my kid being taught how to fight by an assassin,” Rhodey said.

“Ex-assassin,” Natasha yelled from where she was talking with the twins on the grass.

“What?” Rhodey asked Loki, who had an odd expression on her face. She chuckled a bit. “What?”

“It’s just that you called Sephy your child.”

Wanda snorted. “So does that mean that Justin is your wife?”

Rhodey burst out laughing. “I don’t think he would appreciate it.”

“That would be so weird,” Loki said, shaking her head.

“Oh, there you guys are,” Tony said. He walked over with Theo, who presumably had come from the lab. “Rhodey, can I talk to you and Justin for a sec?”

“Course,” Rhodey replied. He managed to pry Justin away from his suddenly very clingy daughter, and followed him inside.

“So, what is it, Tony?” Rhodey asked, putting an arm around Justin’s waist.

“Well, I’m just thinking about where we go from here,” Tony said. “I think we can all agree that you and Sephy need to move, and I’ve got a couple options.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Justin said. “I’m definitely not going back to that apartment. Not a fucking chance.”

“Cool, so I was thinking maybe the East coast or Chicago.” He pulled up two pictures of moderately sized homes. “This one’s an hour out of LA, and this one’s in a smaller town near Chicago.”

Justin thought for a second before speaking. “What about Missouri?”

“Missouri? That place is boring! Trust me, I’ve been there,” Tony said.

Justin gave him a look. “Tony, that’s my home state. I come from Missouri.”

“Oh shit, sorry Justin. Didn’t know that,” Tony replied. “Anyway, is there a specific place in Missouri that you’d like to live in?”

“Yeah, Ebbing. My brother lives there. It’s pretty quiet,” Justin said.

“Cool, so I’ll get some housing options up for Ebbing, I guess. Cheers, guys,” Tony said, searching Ebbing, Missouri on Google.

“Thanks, Tony,” Rhodey said. They went back outside, where the children had managed to convince Steve and Sam to play tag with them.

“So, Missouri,” Rhodey said. Justin turned to him.

“Yeah,” he replied quietly.

“That’s a long way away.”

“Is that a problem for you?” Justin asked.

“What? No no no, I was just thinking about what we’re gonna tell Sephy. Just like ‘Hey! We’re moving over a thousand miles away to a place you’ve never been to before’ and I don’t think it’ll go down too well.”

“Mm, you’re right. I’ll think about how we should tell her,” Justin said, resting his head on Rhodey’s shoulder.

“Well, Tony said that we can stay here as long as necessary,” Rhodey said, putting his hand on Justin’s shoulder.

“At least we’re safe here.”

“Yes, we are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, don’t expect an update next week, exams are a bitch. We’ll see what happens with that.
> 
> Comments and kudos keep me alive. See you guys next week or the one after.
> 
> Have a good few weeks!


	12. And suddenly... Thor!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here’s a concept, Thor is not a dick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, so I’m uploading this now because I totally forgot that I’m going on a trip tomorrow until Friday, so I have to upload this now. Tests were a bitch, but I can cope.

19th July

Thunk.

Click.

Thunk.

Click.

Tony opened the door to the shooting range to see Loki throwing knives. He- yes he- was wearing a thick grey jumper and black jeans. Once he had thrown a knife he clicked his fingers and it reappeared back on the side.

“Loki? Are you alright? Is the baby okay?” Tony asked. Loki placed his knife down and turned to face Tony.

“The baby is fine, Tony. I, however, am not.” Tony walked forward and pulled him into a hug.

“Hey, it is not your fault. You didn’t know, I didn’t know- I should’ve, but I didn’t know. You are not at fault,” Tony gripped his lover’s face between his hands. “Nobody is blaming you but yourself. I’ve experienced that kind of thing firsthand, and it sucks. And now I feel like this is a conversation we had like a week or two ago and what the fuck you’re a guy again? How does that work, you’re pregnant!”

“Tony, you’re rambling,” Loki said, removing Tony’s hands from his face. “I can turn my outer form into a man and my internal workings can remain female.”

“Well that’s fun,” Tony said, laughing shakily.

“Sir, the Quinjet is approaching,” FRIDAY said.

“The Quin- but Bruce flew off in that, wait what? FRIDAY, contact the Quinjet. Tell whoever is on it that they can land on the helipad and we’ll meet them there,” Tony replied, heading for the door. “I’ll grab Theo from the lab, she’s still in there, and she’s working with explosives, might not be a good idea to leave her in there.”

Loki made his way to the helipad, where Justin, Nat and Sam already were.

“Did Rhodey have to answer a call?” Loki asked Justin. He and Sephy hadn’t returned to the apartment. They were leaving for Missouri in a few weeks to get settled before school started again in the autumn. Justin had already contacted his brother, and they were going to fly out, most likely. The whole thing hadn’t been fully arranged yet.

“Yep, something came up. I told him he had to answer it, but he wasn’t very happy about it,” Justin said.

“That sounds like him,” Loki replied, laughing.

“Loki, maybe step back, Bruce doesn’t know about the whole situation yet, let’s not terrify him as soon as he gets back,” Sam said. Loki stepped back, and Sam took his place.

The Quinjet landed and the door opened. Bruce stepped out, and Sam waved at him.

“Hey, Bruce,” Tony said, finally making an appearance. “How’s it been?”

“Not bad,” Bruce said. He turned around. “Thor, are you actually going to come out of there?”

Everybody froze. Thor’s voice came from inside. “I am not allowed on Midgardian soil without Loki’s permission.”

“Thor, come out,” Loki said, stepping forward. So much for staying hidden. Bruce quietly whispered curse words and Nat took his hand, led him downstairs. Time had dulled the memories, and Loki was ready to forgive Thor, if he respected the prior rules.

Thor came out slowly, waiting for Loki to change his mind. “Greetings, brother. How are the children faring?”

“They are happy. The twins are doing well in school, and Tony is teaching Theo Earth science. It is quite amazing to watch. Currently, they are on holiday, so they are not at school.” A deafening rumble came from Thor’s stomach and Loki raised an eyebrow. “Hungry, brother?”

“Yes. I have not eaten in a while.” He stepped out from the Quinjet and walked towards Loki. He extended a hand, which Loki shook. Tony stepped forward, so that he was level with Loki, and glared at Thor.

“Stark. I hope you are taking care of my brother,” Thor said, with an equally angry look.

“Yeah, actually, we got married a few months ago,” Tony said coldly.

“Ah, yes, I heard about it from my mother.”

“Gentlemen, don’t fight. Thor, let’s go downstairs. I am sure that the children will want to see you, the twins are currently in a swimming lesson with Steve, and will be finishing shortly.” Tony glared at him, but backed off after slipping his gauntlet watch into Loki’s hand. Loki took Thor to the kitchen, where Wanda was drinking a cup of coffee. Tony went off to get Theo and the twins.

“Good morning, Wanda. How are you?” Loki asked. Wanda looked slightly confused, but didn’t say anything.

“I’m good. What’s going on?” Wanda replied.

“Doctor Banner has returned, with help from Thor,” Loki said.

“Oh,” Wanda said. Vision called Wanda away to talk about a mission, and now he was alone with Thor.

“Thor, I’ll make you something to eat,” Loki said, opening the fridge. “We have chicken, or beef.”

“I’ll have chicken, if it isn’t too much trouble,” Thor said.

“It’s not a problem,” Loki said. Loki was calming down now, and her appearance shifted. She put the chicken legs in the oven, and sat at the table with Thor. “What have you been doing, brother?”

“Thinking. I spent a lot of time talking to Heimdall. He helped me think about everything,” Thor said, picking at his cuticles.

“What did Odin say about the ruling?” Loki asked.

“He was angry, but I told him I wasn’t going back for you,” Thor said. It was then that Loki noticed that he was wearing long sleeves.

“Brother, what happened to your arms? You never wear long sleeves.” Thor shook his head, but Loki placed a hand on his. “Please. Can I?” Thor nodded, and she slowly rolled up one of his sleeves.

The gashes were deep, and new. Some of then were still scabbing over. “Thor,” Loki whispered.

“I deserve it,” Thor said, tears rolling down his face. “I hurt you, I messed up your life, I raped you!” He stood up and pulled his sleeve down. Loki stood as well, and stepped closer. She wrapped her arms around her brother, brought his head to rest on her shoulder.

“I forgive you, brother,” she said, as Thor pulled her in tighter, tighter, until it got rather uncomfortable. “Thor, do not crush me, or my child. I think that after that, he would definitely kill you.” Thor drew away in shock, resting his hands on her stomach. He started to smile, and Loki wiped away his tears with the cuff of her sweater.

“You are having a child?”

“Yes, Tony and I are looking forward to their arrival,” Loki said, smiling. “You can be Uncle Thor.”

Thor shook his head. “I would not want to intrude on your children’s lives. And the chicken may be burning, I am unsure.”

Loki checked on the chicken, and it was slightly crispy, but Thor didn’t seem to mind. Tony brought up the children, and immediately left, either to talk to Bruce or avoid murdering Thor, or both. Loki watched as Thor talked with the children about their time on Earth, and as Thor told them stories from his exploration.

Thor checked the time, and figured it was time to leave. “I do not wish to overstay my visit,” he told Loki, after Tony had taken the children once again, to introduce them to Bruce.

“Brother, at least allow me to treat your cuts,” Loki said. Thor agreed, and Loki disinfected the wounds and placed bandages on his arms. They walked outside and stood on the grass, outside the facility.

“Safe travels, brother,” Loki said. Thor nodded, and took something out of his pocket.

“I was on a planet known as Elysia. These are traditional gifts given to show affection, usually between family. I wanted to get you one as an apology gift.” It was a necklace, with a small green gem embedded in the pendant. “I thought it would suit you.”

Loki took the necklace and put it around her neck. “Thank you, Thor. Take care of yourself.”

“And you, sister.” Loki kissed Thor on the cheek and smiled sadly at him. He left, and Loki watched, amazed at what change her brother had gone through, and sad at how he had reacted to his own actions.

Thor could be so sweet, and so, so stupid sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated, they let me know where to go next.
> 
> Have a good week and a bit, guys!


	13. Departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Justin, Rhodey and Sephy say goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that this took so long! Life has been... ugh. Anyway, this is here.

21st July

“Tony, that’s going to fall.”

“Wait, what? Ow!” The wrench fell on Tony’s head and Justin laughed from where he was sitting on the table.

“You’re such an idiot,” Justin said.

“Says the one who can’t make a missile correctly,” Tony said, grabbing the tabletop and pulling himself up. Justin held out a hand and Tony grabbed it for support.

“Which missile are we talking about here?” Justin asked.

“Remember the fight me and Rhodey had with Vanko?” Tony said.

“Yes, that was when I got arrested, why would I not remember it?” Justin asked.

“Well, Rhodey used some missile of yours called the ‘Ex-wife’,” Tony replied. “And it was shit.”

“How far away were you firing it from?” Justin asked. It should have worked, he spent hours designing that thing.

“Like twenty feet or something,” Tony shrugged.

“Oh my god,” Justin said. He put his head in his hands. “Tony, the Ex-wife was a kinetic missile.”

“Oh. Oh!” Tony did, thankfully, know what that meant. “God, and I trashed you for so long because of that thing not working.”

“And I thought Rhodey went to MIT with you,” Justin said, laughing again. “How did he not know that? I said, straight up, that it was kinetic.”

“Yeah, J, but you were talking super quickly that day,” Rhodey said, leaning against the doorframe.

“Jesus! Don’t do that, Rhodey,” Tony said. “How was the mission, man?”

“Not too bad. Steve nearly got shot, and Sam almost fell off of a building, but other than that, oh wait, Wanda’s arm got broken by some dickhead.”

“Oh shit, is she okay?” Justin asked, getting off of the table.

“Yeah, she’s fine, the doctors are looking at her now. Loki said that she might be able to heal it, but apparently it’s been a while since she practiced, so it’s a big might.”

“Oh, cool,” Justin said. He walked over to where Rhodey was and hugged him, then pushed him away. “But you’re still an idiot. How do you not hear me say the most important thing about something? And when I put that in your suit, I told you again. Jesus!”

“Oh, we’re still discussing that. Sorry, I guess I forgot.” Justin kissed Rhodey gently.

“Better.” Justin said. Rhodey snorted and pulled Justin in for a deeper kiss.

Tony coughed. “Excuse me, but I’m still here, you know.” Justin started laughing.

“Is that a problem?”

“Wha- Yes! I don’t want to see my two best friends making out in front of me!”

“We could always get Loki down here and turn it into a full-blown orgy, you know,” Justin said.

“Shut up! Get out!” Tony said, laughing. Justin took Rhodey’s hand and dragged him out, trying not to to cry with laughter.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rhodey pressed Justin to their bedroom wall, kissing him passionately. Justin kissed back with just as much fervour, wrapping his arms around Rhodey’s neck.

Rhodey’s hands were everywhere, his hips, his face, under his shirt, but suddenly, his hands merged into John’s, they were pinning him to the wall, devouring him, drowning him.

“Justin? Justin!” Rhodey pulled away, catching the younger man when he slid down the wall. He knelt in front of him. “Talk to me, J.”

“Fuck. Fuck,” he whispered quietly.

“J. It’s me. It’s Rhodey. I’m not John,” Rhodey said, sitting beside him. Justin’s body fell against his and he wrapped an arm around Justin’s shoulders. They sat there for a while until Justin sighed deeply.

“Hey. You back with me?” Rhodey asked.

“Barely,” Justin replied, shakily. “Guess that’s off the table for a while, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Rhodey rested his head on top of Justin’s and they just sat there in silence.

~~~~~~~~~~

23rd July

Theo was working in the lab with Bruce and Tony. It had taken Bruce a while to get used to Loki, Ste and Sophie, but now he had no problem, talking with Loki like they had been friends for years. Bruce and Theo got on pretty well, having complicated conversations about mathematics and science.

“That equation’s wrong,” Theo said, pointing to something Bruce and Tony were working on. It was a line of coding for something SHIELD asked for their help on.

“Where? I’ll change it,” Tony said.

“Line 53, you didn’t consider the trajectory,” Theo said, pointing to it. “So then the landing site would be off, and that could possibly end up being off by miles.”

“You’re right. Good job, kid,” Tony said, ruffling her short green hair. He changed it, and everything immediately lined up. “This is why you don’t go to school. You’d be wasting your time.”

“Tony,” Loki said, walking in. “They’re leaving now.” Justin and Rhodey had gotten everything organised, and Steve had agreed to take them to Missouri in the Quinjet, so that the journey was shorter. Sephy wasn’t too happy about everything, but Rhodey had explained the bare minimums to her, so she understood why they had to leave.

“Okay. Let’s go, kid. Let’s give them the support they need right now,” Tony said. Theo hopped off of the stool she was sitting on and walked out with Tony. They went straight to the helipad, where Justin, Rhodey and Sephy already were. Sephy had her backpack, and it looked like she was holding back tears.

“I’ll miss you,” Sephy said, hugging Theo. Theo hugged her back, and the twins joined in, a second later, so they were all in one group hug.

“We’ll call, or something,” Sophie said. Sephy nodded. “It’ll be so cool there! Tell us what it’s like.” Tony looked at them and smiled. They were some of the nicest kids he had met.

“You okay, Justin?” Tony asked him.

Justin shrugged. “It’s been okay. I get nightmares sometimes, but they aren’t that bad. I haven’t seen my brother in ages. It’ll be nice to see him,” he said, placing his hand over Rhodey’s, which had somehow ended up on his shoulder.

“Well, good luck,” Tony said. “I don’t think Loki can make it. She has a doctor’s appointment. Gotta check on the baby.”

“Let us know how that goes, by the way,” Rhodey said.

“I’ll make you guys the godparents,” Tony replied, laughing.

Justin snorted. “Yeah, that’ll end well. ‘Hey kid, these are your godparents, they live in Missouri, and one of them is a convicted criminal.’”

“J, you were a convicted criminal. Not are,” Rhodey said.

“Yeah, and what a difference that makes,” Justin replied. “Still get assaulted, no matter what I do.”

“You know what’s really disturbing?” Tony asked. “On the one hand, existentialist Justin scares me, but on the other hand, I really agree. But are you taking your pills?”

Justin gave him a look. “Yes, I am taking the crap ton of pills I got prescribed.”

“Good.”

“Guys, we’re ready to go,” Steve said.

“Cool,” Tony yelled over.

“Hey,” Sophie said to Sephy. “It’ll be fun. Better than boring old New York.”

“Yeah.” They hugged again, and then Sephy hugged Ste, and Theo. “I’ll miss you guys.”

“We’ll miss you too,” Theo said.

“Take care, Justin,” Sam said. “We’re always here for you.”

“And I’ll always be here to kill Rhodey if you need it,” Nat said.

“Thanks guys,” Justin replied. “Maybe not to the second thing, but the sentiment is nice. I think it’ll be okay.”

“It’ll be great. And when was the last time you were in your hometown anyway?” Nat asked.

“It”s been a long time, however long it has actually been.”

“Justin, let’s go!” Rhodey yelled.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Justin said. He walked forward, but got stopped by Tony.

“One last thing,” Tony said. He pressed a blue metal bracelet into Justin’s hand. “Enable it with the button when you get to your new house. You’ll understand it pretty quick.”

“Thank you, Tony. For everything.”

“See you, man,” Tony said. “Rhodey will protect you with his life, by the way, so I’m not even sure you need that.”

“We’ll see, huh?”

“Yeah. Bye.”

“Bye,” Justin said. He walked into the Quinjet, and Tony watched as they flew away. He’d miss them, but they wouldn’t be gone forever. Just until he and the others find and kill that bastard John.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I will be giving Justin and Rhodey a story of their own, once I’ve finished this one. It might take a while, but I’ll probably start writing it in the holidays, which start after next week, so yay!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos would be great. See you guys next week!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that this chapter is so short and so late! Life is... not good. Shit is happening and everything kinda sucks at home. But anyway, enjoy this shitty five hundred word chapter.

“So, there is your baby,” the doctor said. “Perfectly healthy, no problems so far. No, wait.”

“Is something wrong?” Loki asked from where she was lying on the table. Tony was sat beside her, holding her hand.

“Just checking something. Oh!” The doctor exclaimed. “Babies!”

“Wait, seriously?” Tony said. “Twins?”

“Yep! Twins. Do you want to know the genders?” The doctor asked.

“Well, I want it to be a surprise,” Tony said. “What about you, Reindeer Games?”

“I would not be adverse to it being a surprise,” Loki said.

“Well, then everything is alright,” the doctor said. Your due date is... the 17th of January, according to this.”

“Yep,” Tony said.

“Great, so keep taking the vitamins, and everything should be fine,” the doctor said.

“Will do,” Tony said.

~~~~~~~~~~

Tony opened the door and held it open for Loki.

“Guys, we’re home,” Tony said when he shut the door.

“Hey, Tony,” Thalia said from the stairs. “How are you guys?”

“Oh, haven’t seen you in a while, um... we’re good. How’re your parents?”

“They’re okay. They’ve been arguing, you know, about the Sokovia Accords?” Thalia said, coming back up the stairs and hugging Loki.

“Oh, that thing.” The Sokovia Accords were proving to be quite divisive on the team, fuelling vicious debate. “Yeah, that’ll be a mess. Not bad arguments, though?”

“Not really, more like debating if it’s a good idea to sign it, or if it’s ethical.”

“Yeah, it’s a big debate with the team. They’re all in the kitchen talking about it.”

“Well, we’ll go there, see what’s happening,” Tony said, taking Loki’s hand.

“Yeah, and Clint took the twins and Theo to see a movie with Lila and Cooper. Just in case you’re wondering where they are.”

“Great. See you around, kid,” Tony said. Thalia waved goodbye and walked away, to a car where Phil was waiting. Loki waved to him, then they left for the kitchen. Time to see what this debate was like.

~~~~~~~~~~

While they were arguing, Steve got a text message and abruptly left. Loki watched him leave and followed him to the bottom of a flight of stairs.

“Is everything alright?” Loki said, walking down the stairs.

Steve shook his head. “It’s Peggy. She- ” His voice caught. “She passed away in her sleep.” Loki hugged him.

“It’ll be okay. These things happen,” Loki said. “I lost my mother a few years ago. It felt like I was being torn apart inside. The children were so upset afterwards. The feeling diminishes after time, but you will always miss her.”

Steve nodded. “I wish I could have spent more time with her. She was a good friend.”

Loki pulled away. “I thought you two were lovers?” She asked.

“No, that was an assumption everybody made. I was actually in love with Bucky. We had to be careful all the time. Peggy was just a good friend.”

“And now both of them are gone, and everything is awful?” Loki asked.

“Actually, Bucky is alive. I saw him a few years ago, while you were gone. Don’t know where he is now, though,” Steve said. Loki placed a hand on Steve’s shoulder.

“When he shows up again, I’ll help you find him, Steve. You shouldn’t be alone.”

“Thank you, Loki.”

“No problem. We’re all friends here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos help a lot with motivation.
> 
> See you guys whenever!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned from my accidental two-week hiatus! I didn’t have enough words to upload last week and then I went on a trip without wi-fi, but the good part is that I have enough for next week as well, so enjoy!

The Raft kinda scared Loki. And it scared Justin too, judging by the way Justin hung onto her hand. It was expected, considering that his boyfriend just got slammed into the ground. Tony was talking to General Ross, a smug bastard that Loki didn’t like all that much, partly because of the stories Bruce had told her.

“Okay, so me and Justin are going to see the guys, and Loki’s going to talk to Wanda,” Tony said. Ross nodded, and sent a guard to take Loki to Wanda. Tony and Justin took a slightly scary walk to see Clint, Sam, and some other guy.

“The futurist, gentlemen! The futurist is here! He knows what’s best for you, whether you like it or not,” Clint said. Then he looked up and saw Justin. “And the murderer!” Justin flinched, and all that did was make Tony more angry.

“Cut me some slack, Barton, and leave Justin out of this. You can’t have honestly thought that this would be-

“La la la la la”

“Okay.” Tony sighed and moved on.

“Watch your back around this guy. There’s a chance he’s gonna break it,” Clint said.

Justin suddenly glared at Clint. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Clint didn’t back down. “If Tony hadn’t dragged your fucking boyfriend into this then he wouldn’t be in the hospital.”

“Actually,” Justin said, taking a step towards Clint’s cell. “It was Rhodey’s decision to join in with this. And it was nothing to do with Tony when he fell. And how fucking dare you for calling me a murderer. What happened to me being a person to protect? Because it seems like as soon as somebody disagrees with you, they are not worthy of your protection, or your friendship. Don’t fuck with me, Barton. I’m not as fragile as you think I am, you can’t break me, or Rhodey, or Tony, or Loki. We will slaughter you.”

Clint swallowed and backed away, though he didn’t apologise.

“How’s Rhodes?” Sam asked. Justin walked over to him, past Tony, who was leaning against a wall.

“He’s being flown to Columbia Medical tomorrow. The doctors think he’s gonna be facing some sort of paralysis, but it’s not clear yet,” Justin said gently, his mood and tone of voice changing dramatically once he was talking to a close friend.

Sam shook his head. “I should have took that shot. I should have taken the fall. I should’ve realised that Rhodey would get hit. He’s more important than I am.”

“That’s not true, Sam,” Justin said, taking a step forward.

“He’s more important to you,” Sam said, turning around. Sam noticed that Justin was wearing an oversized jumper, and, with a pang, he realised that the jumper was Rhodey’s. “You’ve been through some shit times lately, and I feel guilty for letting you go through that, and now I’ve let your boyfriend get shot, and he’s an integral part of your recovery, and he can’t help you if he’s trying to help himself.”

“Sam, listen to me. It is not your fault. It’s survivor’s guilt.”

“Don’t tell a criminal he shouldn’t feel guilty,” Tony suddenly said.

“Don’t be a hypocrite, Tony. Loki was a criminal, and you ignored everything you should have done and fell in love with her. And Sam did nothing that he should feel guilty for. Don’t be a dick, Tony.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Wanda.”

Upon hearing Loki’s voice, Wanda looked up. Loki was there, an unreadable expression on her face. “Hey,” She said carefully.

“Why did you do it? Why did you leave?” Loki said, sliding down the wall and sitting almost next to her, if it wasn’t for the wall.

“I wasn’t allowed to leave. I don’t like not having freedom. It made me angry, and then Clint showed up, and got me out. And you know that I don’t really like Tony anyway.”

“If you had waited until I got back from my appointment, we could have talked about it. Your being confined to the compound was only temporary. I’ve reached out to somebody, his name is Professor Charles Xavier. He runs a school for mutants, and he’s agreed to help you with your powers,” Loki told her gently.

Wanda looked up. “I thought that you were going to help me with that.”

Loki shook her head. “Sadly, the pregnancy is making my magic unstable, and I have a lot on my plate right now. I’m advocating for your freedom, but it has conditions.”

“What are they?” Wanda asked quietly.

“Well, you have to spend some time at the school for mutants, like I said, but you also have to sign the Accords. Have you read them?” Loki asked. When Wanda shook her head, Loki continued. “I’ll ask General Ross to give you a copy. It’s a well thought out piece of writing. And once the Professor has deemed your skills in control, you can either come back to the Avengers, or if you don’t want to, you can stay at the school.”

“Okay,” Wanda said. “What about Steve?”

Loki sighed. “Steve... is a different story. I’m able to advocate for your freedom because you’ve been deemed as ignorant to the cause you were fighting for, but that doesn’t apply to Steve. Once we find him, his punishment will be pretty severe. In comparison, you’re getting a pretty good deal.”

Wanda nodded. “Okay. I’ll read the Accords, and I’ll go to the school. Thank you, Loki.” Loki nodded.

“I’ll come and see you at some point once you’ve gotten settled in. I hope the release won’t be more than a few days away. Read the Accords well, it’s very important. I’ll let you know when you’re being released.”

“Bye.”

“Goodbye, Wanda.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“So,” Loki said, stepping into the room where Justin, Tony, Clint, Sam and Mr Lang were. “There are a few things to go over. Clint, if you sign the Accords, you are allowed to rejoin the Avengers, and Laura says that she will consider taking you back, if not, then you can remain here for the rest of your sentence. Mr Lang, Miss Hope Van Dyne is advocating for your release into her custody, but it might be a while.”

“And Sam, me and Rhodey are advocating for you. If you sign the Accords, which I suggest you all do, then you can also rejoin the Avengers, but if you don’t want to, you are welcome to join us in Missouri,” Justin said. “Steve is a different matter, but you will all be treated fairly. I would suggest you think this through carefully.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Once they knew that Bucky was framed, Tony took off to find them. Justin gave Tony an emergency beacon he had designed in case there was a fight, and Justin and Loki returned to the compound alone. Loki was mentoring a new member, one Peter Parker. Justin went off to find Rhodey.

“Peter,” Loki said, stepping into the room where Peter was. “How is everything?”

“It’s- it’s good. Yeah, everything’s going okay. Me and Ned are meeting up in a few weeks, which is great. I’m really looking forward to it,” Peter said. Loki saw a lot of things in Peter, namely potential. She also saw him as one of her children, and she felt the same need to protect him.

“Good for you, Peter. How’s the suit? Comfortable?”

“Yeah, it’s not too tight.” Peter had decided to come out to Loki and Tony after he nearly broke a rib at the airport. Tony had started to make adjustments as necessary, to ensure that Peter was comfortable.

“And everything at home is fine? School is okay?”

“Well, it’s better now that school’s out, and everything’s fine at home. How are you?” Peter asked.

“I’m well. Turns out that I’m having twins.”

“Really? That’s so cool!”

Suddenly, Justin burst in.

“Loki,” he gasped. “The emergency beacon went off.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Loki and Justin sat hand in hand as both Rosses and Rhodey made multiple calls. Finally, Everett Ross said something.

“He’s in an old HYDRA base in Siberia. I’ve dispatched a unit to get him now,” he said. Loki gasped in relief, and Justin put an arm around her shoulder.

“Is he okay?” Loki asked.

“Well, yes and no. He’s alive, which is good, but he’ll be in the hospital for a few days. T’Challa’s reached out to us, he has Steve and Bucky in Wakanda.”

“Great, we’ll go and see Tony as soon as we can,” Rhodey said. “Thanks, Ross.”

“Not a problem,” Everett said. “I need to go, so... .” He left, and General Ross left after.

“So... Shall we get pizza or something?” Rhodey asked.

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” Justin said. Rhodey nodded, and Justin held the door open for him as he wheeled himself out.

“You okay?” Justin asked Loki.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I just hope Tony’s okay,” Loki replied. Justin nodded, and put a comforting arm around her.

“It’ll be alright. It always is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!
> 
> See you guys next week!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally forgot to update yesterday! Whoops. Anyway, enjoy this shitshow of a chapter.

King T’Challa was a funny man. Loki had been talking with him for almost an hour while the last things were being worked out with Steve and Bucky. Justin and Rhodey had gone back once accessibility things were added to the house in Missouri. Tony insisted on paying for it because of course he did.

“So I was with- Oh, Okoye,” T’Challa said, looking up from where he was telling Loki a story. He stood up and helped Loki up. “This is Loki. She is Tony’s wife. She is quite exceptional at many things. You would enjoy her company very much.”

“Hi. Nice to meet you,” Loki said, extending a hand. Okoye smiled and shook her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you too. My King,” she addressed to T’Challa, “they are done talking. They want Loki,” she gestured to Loki, “to talk to Sergeant Barnes.”

T’Challa shrugged. “So tell that to _her_.”

Okoye turned to Loki. “Your husband wants you to talk to Sergeant Barnes.”

“Okay. It was lovely to meet you, your Majesty,” she said to T’Challa. “And it was very nice meeting you, Okoye.” Okoye nodded, and Loki went on her way to find Tony, Steve and Bucky.

~~~~~~~~~~

Bucky didn’t like this place. It was too white, too pristine, too medical. He was doing his best to not freak out, but he was getting worse by the second. Where was Steve, he needed Steve-

“Sergeant Barnes,” a voice said. Bucky looked around, and caught sight of a slim woman with short black hair and green eyes on the other side of the barrier. “How are you doing?”

“Where am I?” He asked.

“You are at the Avengers compound. Once you’ve been deemed safe by a psychiatrist, you can be moved into one of the bedrooms and we can get you counselling,” the woman said. Bucky nodded, not really paying attention. People had made him false promises before, he wasn’t about to trust some random lady.

“Hey,” the woman said, kneeling by the barrier. “We are not your enemies. Tony will take a while to bring around, but nobody here hates you. We will not hurt you, so long as you do not hurt us. Okay?” Bucky nodded, and so did she. “Good. My name is Loki. You can come to me for any issues, you can find me usually in the shooting range or in the common area. I’ll show you to your room tomorrow. Is that alright?”

“Yeah. That’s nice,” Bucky said. Maybe he could trust this woman. Just maybe.

“Very well. I’ll see you once the results come back from the psychiatrist and we can get to know each other a bit better. Do you need anything to be more comfortable here for the time being?” Loki asked.

“Um, a blanket would be nice,” Bucky said. “And a sweater. It’s kinda cold in here.” Loki nodded.

“I’ll get those things for you. I’ll see you soon, Sergeant Barnes,” Loki said, standing up.

“It’s Bucky,” He said. “It’s what my friends call me.”

Loki nodded. “Of course, Bucky.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Good morning, Bucky. The results are back from Dr Chatwin, you’re fine to have your own room,” Loki said. Bucky looked up from where he was wrapped up in his blanket.

“Okay. I don’t really have much stuff... for anything,” he said, standing up from the floor and throwing his blanket over his shoulder.

“Of course. We can do some shopping once you’ve settled in,” Loki replied, opening the door and holding it open for Bucky. “Your room is this way.”

The room was nice. There was a sofa with cushions, and the bed had just as many, if not more, blankets than the sofa had cushions. There was a fairly large window, and a wardrobe and a chest of drawers for his belongings. Bucky threw his blanket on the sofa and sat down. Loki sat beside him.

“So, you are next to... Vision and my daughter Theo. You’ll meet them at dinner. You’ll be going to therapy as well, starting tomorrow,” Loki told him. When Bucky tensed, she lay a hand on his arm.

“Don’t worry. Imani is a very good therapist. I see her personally for… other issues. She’ll help you a lot.” Bucky relaxed and Loki nodded. “I have to go, I’ll see you at dinner, it’s at 7:30.”

“Bye,” Bucky said.

“Goodbye, Bucky. Make yourself at home,” Loki replied, before closing the door, leaving Bucky in peace.

~~~~~~~~~~

Tony sat on the bench on the side of the pool, watching Sam teach Theo to swim. Apparently, it wasn’t healthy for Theo to be working in the lab constantly and she needed some physical activity. Steve used to teach them, but now that he was facing possible jail time, Sam, recently returning from the Raft, had offered to teach the children.

There was a few hard feelings among the team. Wanda still disliked him, but she listened to Loki, and she was leaving in a few weeks for the school, so she wouldn’t cause too much trouble. Sam was alright, things were a bit tense, but Sam was a good guy, he wouldn’t do anything stupid. Scott Lang was at home, happy and healthy, Clint was serving a sentence, stubborn fucker, and Steve...

Steve was a different matter entirely. He still refused to sign the Accords, refused to even read the whole thing. Tony wanted to talk to him, but every time he tried, he could handle a few minutes, if that. Then he’d have flashbacks to Siberia, to Steve smashing him in the chest with his shield, to being left alone in the cold with nothing but a busted suit and Justin’s emergency beacon.

Steve didn’t understand. He could send in Loki to talk to him, possibly, but Tony couldn’t. He was starting to see a therapist, and it was helping a lot. General Ross was suggesting sending Steve to the Raft if they didn’t make a breakthrough in the next week or so, and Tony was staring to agree.

He had bigger priorities, like Sergeant Barnes, or Wanda, or Rhodey’s legs, or John Adams, who still had to be found. Phil said that Nick had people on it, and they would report any information, but there wasn’t much yet.

A splash brought Tony back to the present. Sam was teaching Theo to jump in without being scared.

“But what if I land weird?” She exclaimed loudly.

“You won’t!” Sam said. “Calm down, Theo, it’ll be fine. Look, I’ll jump in with you, hold my hand.” They jumped in together, creating a fairly large splash. Tony laughed at the face Theo pulled when she came up.

“See? That wasn’t so bad!” Sam said.

“Tony!” Bruce said, bursting in with a phone in his hand. “Call for you.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Prince T’Challa, what can I do for you?” Tony asked, standing out in the corridor.

“I’m here to extend an invitation to Wakanda at some point in the future,” the young prince said.

“Woah, that escalated real quick,” Tony said. “Why?”

“My sister has been reading up on your accomplishments along with Dr Banner’s, and she has decided that she wants to meet you both,” T’Challa said.

Tony got over his initial shock first, then answered. “Well, coming from the smartest woman in the world, that’s a mighty compliment. Uh, yeah, that’d be really cool. It’d have to be in December or something like that, because my kids have school, and there’s no way they’re missing that opportunity.”

“Of course. We can organise something. I was mostly calling to let you know,” T’Challa said. “How is Sergeant Barnes?”

“He’s... honestly, I personally don’t know how he’s doing, but he’s been cleared by a psychiatrist, and Loki’s overseeing his recovery personally, so he should be perfectly fine. Also, could your sister send me all the information she has on his arm if it’s not too much trouble? I need to know what’s going on if anything breaks,” he asked.

“Of course,” T’Challa said. “I must go. Duties to attend too. I hope to see you soon, Mr Stark.”

“Yeah, bye,” Tony said. “Have a good day, Prince.”

When the call ended, Tony didn’t go back to watch the swimming, but instead went to Wanda’s room. He knocked on the door first, he wasn’t about to barge in on her, especially since she didn’t like him from the start.

“Come in,” he heard her call. He opened the door and stood in the doorway.

“Hey, Wanda,” he said. She was sitting on her bed, reading a book. Her stuff was mostly packed up in boxes for the move. Being in a straitjacket on the Raft had left it’s impact for the short three weeks she was there. She was a lot thinner and had bruises on her body that hadn’t yet gone away.

“Stark. Come in,” she said.

“Yeah, uh, I’m wondering how you’re doing after the whole... Raft thing,” Tony said, walking closer. He sat on the end of her bed. “Loki told me you’ve been having nightmares, and since Steve isn’t here, I’ve taken the job of checking up on you.”

“I’m okay,” she said carefully. “Loki told you about the nightmares?”

Tony shrugged. “She sees you as one of her children, so she looks to protect you, and I like to know if something’s going on with my teammates.” When Wanda nodded, he continued. “I have nightmares too, you know.”

Wanda looked curious. “Really? What about?”

“Afghanistan, and...” he took a deep breath. “And Siberia.”

“Siberia?” She asked. Oh. She didn’t know.

“Well, when I went to get Steve and Bucky, there was a fight about something I don’t really want to talk about right now, and in the end, they won. I got left there with a broken suit. Really, I was lucky that Justin gave me a beacon just in case something went wrong. I got beat up pretty bad. Spent about three days in the hospital in the end. And, yeah, I get nightmares about Steve beating me up,” he said slowly.

Wanda put her hands over her mouth. “That’s awful. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, well, the best thing about the whole situation is that Steve doesn’t think he did anything wrong, and I can barely stand being in a room with him, let alone have an argument with him,” he said with a sigh.

“I’m sorry,” Wanda said. She put the bookmark back in her book, a small piece of paper that Sophie had drawn a picture on as a welcome back gift. It clearly meant a lot to her. “I didn’t realise.”

“I haven’t told many people, it’s mainly just Loki and my therapist that know,” he said. “What are your nightmares about? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, though.”

Wanda shook her head. “They’re about the shell, and Sokovia. They get pretty bad. Vis always helps me through, though.”

Tony nodded. “Good.” He looked over to her guitar. “How’s practice going?” He asked.

“It’s going pretty good,” she said, becoming more comfortable within the conversation. “I’m still getting the hang of it.”

“Well, keep it up, kid. I’ve heard you play. It’s pretty good. When’s your birthday, by the way?” He asked.

“15th October, why?” She asked.

“You’ll see,” Tony said. What better way to improve a relationship than to give them gifts?

“Okay.”

Tony’s watch beeped. “Well, I have to go. Nice talking to you, kid. Take care. Treat Vision well, by the way. You both kinda need your relationship to stay healthy.”

Wanda laughed. “Goodbye, Tony.”

“See you at dinner.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are great motivation, but it isn’t necessary.
> 
> Have a good week guys!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gave me some trouble. Sorry!

Dinner was a bit awkward. Tony cautiously took the seat opposite Sophie, who was between Bucky and Wanda. Bucky didn’t make eye contact, he kept his eyes glued to the table, and Tony was almost thankful. Loki, who was opposite Bucky and next to Tony, covered his hand with hers and smiled at him. He smiled back, barely. Bruce walked in while Vision was putting the plates on the table, arguing incessantly with Theo, her hair now dry and bubblegum pink.

“I swear that it’s not!” He exclaimed.

Theo shook her head. “It is. You’ve just forgotten,” she said, taking her place next to Bucky. “Hi,” She said to him. Bruce shook his head and took a seat on the other side of Loki, opposite Theo.

“Hi?” Bucky said uneasily.

“I’m Theo,” she said, sticking out a hand for him to shake. “I already know who you are.”

“Cool...” Bucky said, taking the tiny girl’s hand and shaking it. He thanked Vision when he was given a plate, and smiled at Loki when she smiled at him.

“So, Theo,” Bruce said, “ask your dad about what we were talking about before dinner.” Theo nodded and turned to Tony, who was now paying attention.

“Dad, is the equation we were looking at squared or cubed?” She asked, ignoring the looks of confusion on everyone else’s faces.

“It was cubed, why?” Tony asked. His face broke out into a grin when Bruce groaned and Theo yelled ‘Ha! I told you!’.

“What did I miss?” He said coyly.

“Bruce thought it was squared but I told him it wasn’t,” Theo replied.

“Smart girl,” Tony said. Bruce shook his head.

“Give me a break, I’m getting old,” Bruce said. Loki tried her best to suppress a smile when Theo sputtered.

“We were looking at it like two hours ago!”

“Damn, Bruce, getting sassed by a goddamn six year old,” Tony said. “I know that you’re old but get it together.” This time Loki giggled quietly and Sam snorted.

“This place is so weird,” Bucky said to no one in particular.

“Buck, I felt the exact same way when I first joined,” Sam said from down the table. “You get used to the craziness after a while.”

“It’s like one crazy family,” Bruce said. “And some of us are literally family,” he added.

“Yep,” Tony nodded. “It’s pretty insane at times. We’ve got gods, geniuses, super soldiers and assassins.”

“And Sam,” Sophie added. Everyone laughed, including Bucky.

“And me,” Sam said, shaking his head. “The one vaguely normal person here.”

“Yeah, and clearly you regret everything,” Bucky said sarcastically. “Do you miss them days of being normal, Sam?”

“I wouldn’t miss this stuff for the world,” Sam said.

Loki looked at Tony as if to say, see, I told you it would be fine. Tony shook his head and kept eating. Seemed like everything was going to be okay after all.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

Bucky was up pretty early in the morning. It was about five, and he figured that five was okay to be up. He got dressed, and brushed his hair before leaving to get some breakfast from the kitchen. He bumped into someone in the hallway, however.

“Oh, hey Theo,” he said quietly. Theo turned round, a hand over her heart.

“You scared me!” She said. “God, don’t do that!” Her hair was brown, wavy, and very short.

“Wait, wasn’t your hair pink yesterday?” Bucky asked.

“Yeah, I can change it at will. My mum’s teaching me about how to change more, but it’s pretty difficult, and it’s balanced with my science stuff, so it’s going slow,” she shrugged.

“Cool,” Bucky replied. He caught up with her and she took his hand. “What do you want for breakfast?”

“Can you make pancakes?” Theo asked.

“Yeah, you want some?” Bucky asked. She nodded vigorously. “All right then.”

So, Bucky made pancakes for the two of them, and they both ate them, asking each other various questions. Sam came in at one point from his morning run, and whined Bucky into making him his own pancakes.

“How do you always do that?” Bucky grumbled, setting the plate on the table. Sam dragged it towards himself, smirking.

“It’s just my natural charm,” Sam replied.

“Little shit,” he muttered, then froze, and looked over at Theo.

“My dad says swear words all the time, don’t worry about it,” Theo assured them.

“Wait, how old are you again?” Sam asked. “Just to be clear about this?”

“I’m six,” Theo said. “Why?”

“Well, you’re pretty mature for a six year old,” Sam said.

“Yeah, I’ve been told. My dad said that it’s because I have genius level intellect, but I don’t think that’s true, because he’s smarter than me but he acts like a child.” When Sam and Bucky burst out laughing, she giggled too. “I think this is why Dad doesn’t let me go to press conferences.” When they laughed harder, the group heard a gasp from the sofa.

“What an awful thing to say about your father,” Tony gasped, sitting up. The other’s jaws dropped, and his smile grew wider. “I’ve been here this whole time. I heard everything. Can I have a pancake?”

Bucky made him a pancake and he sat at the table with them. Tony could see that Bucky was unsure about wether or not he should rejoin the group, so Tony beckoned him over.

“Calm down, Manchurian Candidate, I’m not going to try to kill you, that was a one time thing. I’m almost over it now.” Bucky nodded and returned to the table.

“Anyway, Theo, my lovely daughter, what are you planning on doing today?” Tony asked her. Theo shrugged.

“I kinda wanna take a day off. Maybe read some fun books, if that’s alright,” Theo said. Tony nodded.

“Fine by me. I’ll let your mum know once she wakes up,” Tony said. Theo nodded, and ran off, probably to get changed and see if Vision was awake, he always seemed to know what books to read.

“Well,” Sam said, leaning back on his chair, “How’s everything with you, Tony?”

“It’s good, it’s good,” Tony replied. “I don’t think me and you have ever had a conversation with each other without Steve being there, have we?”

Sam thought for a bit of time, then shook his head. “No, we haven’t. Kinda weird that, huh?”

“Not exactly a healthy team dynamic to have, eh?” Tony asked.

“Nope, not at all.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Steve, you can’t have expected everything to go back to the way it was!” Loki said exasperatedly. She had been talking to him for nearly half an hour, it felt like she was getting nowhere.

“I did nothing wrong! I was defending my friend!”

“Yes, by leaving another friend, my husband, for dead in Siberia, in a broken suit, in sub-zero temperatures. You broke the law. Technically, Tony could press charges. You could be in an actual prison right now, Steve,” Loki told him.

“He tried to kill Bucky,” Steve argued weakly,

“You can’t avoid consequences for your actions, Steve,” Loki said, her voice shaking. She was trying not to yell.

“Yeah, because that worked out so well for you,” Steve retorted. That was when she snapped.

“Okay, you can shut the fuck up!” She shouted, standing up so fast her chair was knocked over. “That was a different situation with different circumstances, and my pain is not your fucking excuse!” She picked the chair up and set it back upright with a clatter. “You can stay in this cell forever if you want to, but eventually you’re going to have to do something, Rogers. Make your goddamn decision.”

She left as quickly as she could, shutting the door behind her and leaning on the wall to calm down. Her phone buzzed with an unknown number, but she picked it up all the same.

“Hello?”

“Hello, this is Doctor Steven Strange.”


	18. The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I am very not proud of this chapter, it sucks, but I am genuinely done with this bit. I am sure of where this is going next, but I can definitely confirm that it will be a while. I’m going back to school soon, which makes everything hell, and my grades are declining, so they are coming first. Sorry. Chapter updates will probably slow down, and I’m working on a much bigger writing project on a much larger scale, so everything regarding my writing is changing.
> 
> Anyway, try to enjoy this shithole of a chapter.

Doctor Strange was another interesting person. He had called to offer his services to the team while the firepower was significantly lowered, considering that there was no Clint, no Steve, and Wanda had left for the school.

Loki and the doctor had had some conversations about magic, and Theo had even joined in occasionally. Everybody else had blank looks on their faces, and Loki overheard Sam mention that that’s what it feels like when Tony talks tech.

Peter Parker had spent some time at the compound after the fight with the Vulture. Tony had been incredibly worried about him when he went off the grid. The transfer was stressful enough for him, but almost losing Peter made everything worse.

The twins were coming back to the house with her, but Tony was taking Theo to the tower with him. They had agreed that she would come home on the weekends but spend the rest of the time working in the lab.

To be genuinely honest, Loki was glad that everything was going okay. Clint was getting out in a month, Steve had finally signed the Accords, and Wanda was doing well. Phil had told her that there was progress on the Adams case, and Thalia was going to university in London.

“Hey, Lokes?” Tony asked her one night when they were lying in bed.

“Yes, Tony?” She asked, turning to him.

“Did you think that everything would turn out this way when you first came to Earth?” Tony asked. “I mean, you were almost out of hope back then, but you’ve really changed now.”

“Hmm, you have a point. I thought that I might have a few years, if that, of freedom before everything went wrong. To be honest, this is much happier than my expectations.” Tony smiled and joined their hands.

“I’m glad. It’s nice to see you’re happy here,” Tony said.

“Why wouldn’t you be glad? You’re my husband!” Loki said quietly, laughing a little.

“Yeah, but I never expected that I would be married with three kids and two more on the way!” Tony said. “I’m just really happy that everything turned out okay.”

“Feeling sentimental tonight, my love?”

“Well, I’ve just been thinking about our family, and how much I would miss all of this if something bad happened,” Tony said.

“Well, be glad that Thor and the Guardians teamed up and managed to kill the man that was planning on killing us all,” Loki murmured, feeling sleepy. Thor had shown up once about a week ago, drenched in blood with a few others, also badly injured, in tow. Two of them were still in medical, but the others were staying in various rooms. The two still in medical were the leader, Quill, and a blue woman, whose name was Nebula. Thor had only stayed until medical was happy that he wasn’t about to bleed out, say a quick hello to the twins and Theo, and then promptly left.

“Yeah, but don’t think that I’m going to forgive him anytime soon,” Tony replied, his voice dropping to a quiet whisper.

“Of course not, but he’s getting there,” Loki said.

“Ugh, let’s not actually have a conversation about him,” Tony said.

Loki laughed a little. “Very well. Goodnight, my love.”

“Night, baby.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Loki opened the door and let the twins in first. They were greeted by Fenrir, who was clearly excited at seeing them after so long. Laura hadn’t had a problem with looking after the pets while they were away.

Loki placed her bag on the floor and turned back to help Tony get the other bags out of the car. He handed one of the bags to Loki and took the other three himself. They put the remaining bags on the floor and smiled at each other.

“It’s nice to be home,” Loki said.

“Yeah, it is,” Tony replied. He looked around and smiled.

“These last few months have been a mess, haven’t they?” Loki said. “It’s finally feeling like it’s all going to be okay.”

“Yeah. I feel like it is too,” Tony said.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sophie looked around the cafeteria for which table to sit at. Ste waved her over and made space for her on the bench.

“Come and sit with us,” Ste said. He was sitting with Cooper and a few others. “There’s no point on you sitting on your own.” Sophie smiled and put her tray down.

“Sure.” Lila eventually joined them and they had a good time, talking about what they had been doing in the summer and what they were looking forward to in the coming school year.

Dad had said that he’d come around.

~~~~~~~~~~

Thalia closed her textbook and smiled. University was actually pretty fun. Dad had been pretty insistent on her having options other than agent work. Pa had rolled his eyes but agreed in the end. So here she was studying Biochemistry at the Royal Holloway. It was pretty great, and not just something she was doing to make her parents happy, like she thought it would be.

However, she wasn’t impressed with the obvious safety precautions her Pa had taken. The security cameras half followed her. She hadn’t brought it up yet, because she was so busy with work that she hardly had time to call them.

She’d had texts though. Stuff from Maria Hill, from Loki, and from Tony. Tony was giving her help on her coursework, lovely man that he was. Loki was telling her about what she was missing back in New York.

Her phone rang and she jumped. It was Dad, and she had just finished her work, so she had time.

“Hey, Dad!” She said, answering the video call.

“Hey, Naomi,” Phil said. “How’s uni?”

“Uni’s great!” Thalia said. “Everything at home okay?”

“More than okay,” Phil said.

“Perfect. It’s so nice to actually hear from you after so long,” Thalia said. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Tony flipped the pancake once more and put it on the plate. Theo took the plate with a mumbled ‘thank you’. She wasn’t feeling too great, she was probably getting a cold judging by the sudden cold spell that was brushing through New York City right now. The year was passing quickly, October was setting in, and time was rushing away.

The Guardians had basically joined forces with the Avengers, and they were living at the compound with the rest of them. Loki had spent many hours talking with Gamora and Nebula, apparently bonding over some experience with a guy that they knew. Tears were shed, and hugs were given.

Tony watched was Theo curled up on the couch with a blanket and turned on the tv. It was calm in the penthouse, the heavy rain that was hitting the window giving a calming feeling. The work they had been doing recently had been slow going, the coding was being a pain, even with Bruce’s input.

To be honest, everything was fine, after the absolute mess that this year had been. People were broken, and bruised, but everything had turned out alright so far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I hate this chapter so much, and it probably disappoints you a lot, but I’m hoping that you guys aren’t too pissed.
> 
> Comments are great support, and kudos are great too.
> 
> I am still so sorry for how shit this sequel turned out to be. I am so fucking sorry.
> 
> The next instalment will either be Justin and Rhodey, or a massive time skip in the lives of Loki and Tony. We’ll see.
> 
> Bye for now.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Leave comments and kudos if you want to see what other things happen!  
> I'm thirsty for comments especially. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!


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